Southern-Owners and Mr. Bell moved for summary judgment.

The District Court's Decision

The district court granted summary judgment in favor of Mr. Bell.

In its decision, the district court explained that the Southern-Owners policy defined the "insured" as "Christopher Grainger d/b/a Beachside Pressure Cleaning."

As a threshold matter, the district court continued, there were two possibilities. The first was that the policy was issued to an individual – Mr. Grainger – and the second was that the policy was issued to a sole proprietorship, as exemplified by the "doing business as."

In either circumstance, the district court ruled, Mr. Grainger was "the insured."

The district court reasoned that a sole proprietorship and its owner were "essentially one and the same." In a sole proprietorship, the individual and the business were "but a single legal entity," the district court added.

According to the district court, Southern-Owners had provided "no authority contrary to these well known, well established principles."

Therefore, the district court held, as a threshold matter, the policy "unambiguously defined the insured as Mr. Grainger."

The district court said that, in the alternative, even if there was some measure of ambiguity by the policy's use of the phrase "doing business as," Florida law required that the ambiguity be construed against the insurer and in favor of coverage.

Accordingly, the district court decided, if there was any ambiguity, Mr. Grainger still was an insured under the Southern-Owners policy.

The district court was not persuaded by Southern-Owners' argument that Mr. Grainger was not an insured because Beachside Pressure Cleaning was a partnership, Mr. Grainger and his brother Keith Grainger operated Beachside Pressure Cleaning as a partnership, they shared various duties, and they were listed on the official Florida registration of the fictitious name.

The district court pointed out that the insurance policy was not issued to a partnership, was not issued to a registered Florida partnership, was not issued to Mr. Grainger's brother, and was "not even issued to Beachside Pressure Cleaning."

The district court concluded that it was "certainly a reasonable interpretation that the policy was issued to Mr. Grainger as an individual or as a sole proprietor."

The case is Southern-Owners Ins. Co. v. Grainger, No. 2:19-CV-14004-ROSENBERG/MAYNARD (S.D. Fla. Nov. 26, 2019). Attorneys involved include: For Southern-Owners Insurance Company, Plaintiff: Jessica Leigh Saltz, LEAD ATTORNEY, Williams, Leininger, Cosby, P.A., North Palm Beach, FL; Carri S. Leininger, Williams Leininger & Cosby, Stuart, FL. For Derek Bell, Defendant: Robert E. Gordon, LEAD ATTORNEY, Gordon & Partners, PA, Palm Beach Gardens, FL; Bard Daniel Rockenbach, Burlington & Rockenbach PA, West Palm Beach, FL.