Farm Bureau avoids coverage for employee theft

In Great Northern Insurance Co. v. Dan Ngo, et al., an insurer attempted to recover for an insured loss by suing the liability insurer of a U.S. Nails store in Royal Oak.  An employee of the store had stolen jewelry from Great Northern's insured.  Farm Bureau insured the store for liability, but argued that the employee theft was not an "occurrence" which it had agreed to insure, because it was an intentional crime by a store employee.  The store's owner argued that the event was an "occurrence" from his standpoint, because it was a loss he did not intend or participate in, other than by negligently managing the property and the employee who stole it.  The Court of Appeals ruled that the the event must be viewed from the perspective of the insured employee, and therefore it was not a "chance happening" or an "accident," and therefore it was not a covered "occurrence."