11th Circuit sides with Florida sheriff in Parkland shooting insurance lawsuit

The 11^th Circuit sided with the Broward County Sheriff’s Office in an insurance dispute over coverage related to the 2018 Parkland school shooting.

The appeals court ruled Monday that the mass shooting constitutes a single "occurrence" under the Evanston Insurance Co. policy in force at the time. As a result, the sheriff is only required to pay one $500,000 self-insured retention (SIR) fee before the insurance coverage kicks in, rather than a separate SIR for each victim, which is Evanston’s argument.

“Because under controlling Florida law, ‘occurrence’ is ambiguous and must be construed in favor of the insured, the district court did not err by concluding the Parkland shooting was one occurrence under Evanston’s policy,” wrote Judge Frank M. Hull.

The court granted the sheriff’s motion for summary judgment as well as a separate motion for attorney’s fees and costs. The sheriff at the time, Sheriff Scott Israel, later lost the position due to the shooting fallout.

17 people killed

In February 2018, Nikolas Cruz carried out the mass shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, killing 17 people and injuring others. The shooting prompted a significant amount of political and legal fallout in Florida.

A school resource officer employed by the Broward County Sheriff’s Office was on duty that day, and victims’ families later sued the sheriff’s office, alleging negligence in securing the school.

After the shooting, the sheriff asked Evanston Insurance whether the tragedy counted as one or multiple “occurrences” under the policy, court documents say. In March 2018 and again in April 2019, Evanston issued “Reservation of Rights” letters stating its preliminary view that each victim represented a separate occurrence.

By August 2020, the sheriff’s office had spent $750,000 on the Parkland litigation and argued that the event should be treated as a single occurrence, meaning Evanston would begin covering further legal costs after the $500,000 self-insured retention (SIR) and $500,000 deductible were met, court documents say.

Evanston disagreed. In a September 2020 letter, the insurer reiterated that each injury or death was a separate occurrence, requiring a separate $500,000 SIR per victim before coverage would apply. The company concluded it had no obligation to pay losses until each occurrence-specific SIR and the annual aggregate deductible were satisfied.

The two sides took their dispute to court over the next several years.

According to court filings and correspondence in the Evanston Insurance case, about 60 lawsuits were filed against the Broward County Sheriff’s Office related to the Parkland school shooting.

Israel sacked

The lawsuits were brought by families of the victims and survivors, alleging that the sheriff’s office — through its school resource officer — negligently failed to secure the school.

On Jan. 11, 2019, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, three days after his inauguration, announced that he had signed an executive order suspending Broward Sheriff Scott Israel because of his department's handling of the Stoneman Douglas shooting.

The sacking followed months of Israel battling to keep his position.

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InsuranceNewsNet Senior Editor John Hilton has covered business and other beats in more than 20 years of daily journalism. John may be reached at [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter @INNJohnH.