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Watkins v. Brown9/7/1994
on, or occupation of any kind, including farming * * *. Newspaper delivery, baby-sitting, caddying, lawn care, and similar incidental business activities by a minor resident of your household are not considered business."
Because "business" is defined in the policy, and there is nothing in the policy to indicate that the parties intended to use any other definition, we will restrict our examination to the definition given in the policy. Unfortunately, the policy does not provide a convenient general definition, but merely indicates that "business" embraces some unknown quantity plus "trade, profession, or occupation of any kind." Applying the principles of strict construction, we conclude that Brown's baby-sitting services must at least qualify as a "trade, profession, or occupation of any kind" in order to qualify as a "business."
The language in the latter part of the definition does not disqualify baby-sitting as a possible business for purposes of the exclusion clause. It is true that the phrase "baby-sitting * * * and similar incidental business activities by a minor resident of your household are not considered business," standing alone, could be construed to mean that baby-sitting is not business because it is an "incidental business activity" or that it is not business so long as it is performed by minor resident of the insured's household. However, we must read this language in a way that is harmonious with the language in the rest of the provision. We take "trade, profession, or occupation of any kind" to signify that baby-sitting may be a kind of trade or occupation for which the policy was not meant to provide liability coverage.
It remains for us to examine whether Brown's baby-sitting was a trade, profession, or occupation. We conclude that it was. "Trade," "profession," and "occupation" are not defined in the policy, so we will refer to Webster's Third New International Dictionary to discover their natural and usual meanings. Webster's defines a trade as "the business one practices or the work in which one engages regularly; one's calling; gainful employment; means of livelihood." The same dictionary states that employment is "gainful" if it is "productive of gain; profitable, remunerative; providing an income."
Brown and the Watkinses negotiated a fee for Brown's baby-sitting services to compensate her for her time and trouble. This amount, $40, was paid in cash each Friday, and was not used to purchase food or diapers or any other supplies for Danielle. The fact that Brown did not realize an enormous profit from this arrangement is not dispositive, nor is the fact that she probably would not have agreed to baby-sit if someone other than her good friend had asked her to do it. The definition of "trade" does not require that the tradesperson be motivated entirely by profit, and the $40 she realized each week was pure profit-gain produced by her labor. Moreover, her labor was regular--each weekday from 9:00 to 4:00 or from 12:00 to 4:00--though it lasted for only about six months. See Farmers Ins. Co. of Arizona v. Wiechnick (1990), 166 Ariz. 266, 268, 801 P.2d 501, 503 ("an occupation may be continuous and regular even though it is temporary"). Brown's baby-sitting of Danielle Watkins was work shsengaged in regularly, and which produced an income for her. It was therefore a business as contemplated in the homeowner's policy.
Furthermore, since baby-sitting is not excluded from coverage if done "by a minor resident" of the household, it certainly can be construed as excluded from coverage if done by an adult resident of the household by the maxim "expressio unius est exclusio alterius." Freely translated, the phrase means the express mention o
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