FOLLOW US

Sometimes the deadliest shots aren't fired from a gun — they're fired in fine print. That's the reality now facing performer Jailen White, who survived a nightclub shooting only to watch his path to compensation collapse under the weight of an insurance policy exclusion. A South Carolina federal judge ruled Monday that the Covington shooting coverage insurance dispute favors the insurer, leaving an $18.1 million default judgment essentially uncollectible from the policy meant to back it.

U.S. District Judge Jacquelyn D. Austin determined that Covington Specialty Insurance Co. has no duty to defend Rehab Experience LLC or its owner, Billy Webber, in the underlying case — and no obligation to help satisfy the massive judgment White had already won.

The Night That Started It All

Bullets, Chaos, and a Career Cut Short

The case traces back to the early morning hours of July 13, 2019, at Club Rehab in Spartanburg, South Carolina. An altercation erupted inside the venue, shots rang out, and White — hired that night to perform — took a bullet to the back. The injury left him paralyzed, transforming what should have been a routine gig into a life-altering catastrophe.

White later sued Rehab Experience LLC and Webber, arguing the club failed to provide adequate security, essentially leaving the door wide open for violence to walk in. When neither the club nor its owner showed up to defend themselves in court, a judge handed down a default judgment north of $18 million.

When the Insurance Company Says "Not So Fast"

That's when Covington entered the picture like a plot twist nobody saw coming. The insurer filed its own lawsuit in September 2023, arguing it owed nothing — first because the policy had already been canceled before the shooting, and second because an assault and battery exclusion buried in the policy language would block coverage anyway.

In a maneuver that added another layer to this legal puzzle, Rehab Experience and Webber assigned White their rights to pursue coverage under the policy in October 2023. Stepping into their shoes, White countersued for breach of contract, hoping to force Covington to foot the bill for the judgment he'd already secured. Default was later entered against Rehab Experience and Webber in the coverage case itself in January 2024.

Words Matter — Until They Don't

The Altercation Argument

White's legal team tried a clever angle: the underlying lawsuit never actually used the words "assault" or "battery." Instead, it described an "altercation" — a term notably absent from the policy's exclusion language. It was a bit like arguing that a wolf isn't a wolf because nobody called it one by name.

Judge Austin wasn't persuaded. She noted there's no legal precedent requiring a claim to use an insurance policy's exact terminology to trigger an exclusion. What matters, she wrote, is whether the actual facts alleged fit within the excluded conduct — not the vocabulary used to describe it.

"Case law makes clear that how a plaintiff couches his claim is not the appropriate inquiry," Judge Austin wrote, "but instead the court must determine whether the facts alleged in the complaint bring the claim within the policy's coverage."

The "Unilateral Act" Defense

White also argued that being shot in the back was a one-sided event — a "unilateral act" — since the policy defined assault and battery as requiring two or more participants. But Judge Austin dismantled that argument just as swiftly, pointing out that the underlying complaint itself described the shooting as arising from an altercation. And an altercation, by its very nature, requires more than one person throwing punches — or in this case, pulling triggers.

A Precedent That Almost Saved the Case

White leaned on a 2016 case, Canopius U.S. Insurance Inc. v. Middleton, where a different South Carolina federal judge found an insurer did owe a duty to defend a nightclub after a shooting — because in that case, the possibility of an accidental discharge remained open, keeping the door cracked for coverage.

But Judge Austin found that door firmly shut here. Unlike Middleton, White's own allegations never left room for the idea that the gun went off by accident. The shooting was tied directly to a dispute — and that distinction made all the difference.

"The problem with White's reliance on Middleton," the judge wrote, is that his allegations "do not leave open the possibility that the firearm discharged accidentally."

The Final Verdict

With that, Judge Austin dismissed White's counterclaim with prejudice, closing the book on his bid to recover the multimillion-dollar judgment through Covington's policy. It's a stark reminder that in the world of insurance litigation, the difference between a payout and a dead end often comes down to a single word buried deep in a contract.

Covington is represented by Elizabeth Wieters of Hall Booth Smith PC. Jailen White is represented by Kenneth C. Anthony Jr. of The Anthony Law Firm PA. Counsel for both parties did not immediately respond to requests for comment.