American Casualty Co. of Reading v. Federal Deposit Insurance

39 F.3d 633
CourtCourt of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit
DecidedOctober 26, 1994
DocketNos. 93-1241 to 93-1244
StatusPublished
Cited by2 cases

This text of 39 F.3d 633 (American Casualty Co. of Reading v. Federal Deposit Insurance) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
American Casualty Co. of Reading v. Federal Deposit Insurance, 39 F.3d 633 (6th Cir. 1994).

Opinions

DAUGHTREY, J., delivered the opinion of the court, in which BOGGS, J., joined. JONES J. (pp. 642-43), delivered a separate opinion concurring in part and dissenting in part.

DAUGHTREY, Circuit Judge.

In this case, we are asked to determine the scope of coverage of an officers and directors (“D & 0”) liability insurance policy, issued in 1987 by the plaintiff, American Casualty Company of Reading, Pennsylvania. The legal dispute involved here has been litigated in many courts around the country, in the wake of numerous bank and savings and loan failures in the past decade.1

The defendants, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation and the individual directors of a failed Michigan bank, appeal the district court’s order of summary judgment in the plaintiffs favor. In so ruling, the court determined that American Casualty is not liable for claims made under the D & 0 liability policy in question. The central issue is whether the “regulatory exclusion” endorsement in the policy bars coverage in this case, which requires us to determine whether the endorsement was a valid part of a “renewal policy” issued by American Casualty, under applicable Michigan law. The defendants also contend that such an endorsement violates public policy and should not, therefore, be enforced, and that even if valid, the “regulatory exclusion” is at least partially inapplicable in this case on a purely technical basis.

We conclude that the district court correctly granted summary judgment in the plaintiffs favor and affirm.

I. Procedural History

In 1984, the First State Bank of White Cloud, Michigan, obtained D & 0 liability insurance through the Rudert Insurance Agency of White Cloud. The Rudert Agency was owned by Donald Rudert, a shareholder and a director of the First State Bank; Ru-dert’s wife, Norma; and the couple’s son, Eric, who served as vice-president of the agency and was also a shareholder in First State Bank. In fact, Eric Rudert had handled the procurement of at least six lines of the bank’s insurance and was responsible for the day-to-day insurance dealings with First State Bank.

Pursuant to the terms of the 1984 policy written by MGIC Indemnity Corporation and obtained through the Rudert Agency, First State Bank paid $6969 in premiums for three years of liability insurance coverage. For those premiums, the MGIC Indemnity policy provided an annual aggregate limit on coverage of $2 million, subject to a $5000 deductible for each loss. In addition, the policy [635]*635contained nine endorsements, including one that extended coverage to all bank employees, not just the bank’s officers and directors, and another that provided a 90-day “discovery option” allowing the bank, in the event of cancellation or non-renewal of the policy, to purchase an additional 90 days of coverage for any claims made during that time.

Prior to the March 15, 1987,,expiration of the 1984 policy, First State Bank contacted the Rudert Agency about renewing the D & 0 coverage. Because of deteriorating market conditions, however, the Rudert Agency was unable to obtain a quotation on the same terms as the 1984 policy. The quotation received by Erie Rudert from American Casualty proposed to offer one year of coverage through CNA Insurance Company (which had taken over the MGIC Indemnity policies), rather than the three-year policy previously obtained through MGIC Indemnity. Furthermore, the premiums due on the new policy would rise from the $6969 paid in 1984 for three years of coverage to $12,000 for only one year of coverage, and the aggregate annual liability limit would be reduced from $2 million to $1 million. Additional terms of the 1987 quotation included a restriction on coverage to officers and directors of the bank only, rather than all employees, and the “regulatory exclusion” that is at the center of this controversy. Pursuant to the terms of that endorsement, the insurer would not be liable for any payment for a loss or claim by a director or officer of the bank based upon

... any action or proceeding brought by or on behalf of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, the Federal Savings & Loan Insurance Corporation, any other depository insurance organization, the Comptroller of the Currency, the Federal Home Loan Bank Board, or any other national or state regulatory agency (all of said organizations and agencies hereinafter referred to as
In an action brought by one or more shareholders in an incorporated or unincorporated association because the association has refused or failed to enforce rights which may properly be asserted by it, the complaint shall set forth under oath and with particularity the efforts of
“Agencies”), including any type of legal action which such Agencies have the legal right to bring as receiver, conservator, liquidator or otherwise: whether such action or proceeding is brought in the name of such Agencies or by or on behalf of such Agencies in the name of any other entity or solely in the name of any Third Party. the plaintiff to secure from the managing directors or trustees the action the plaintiff desires and the reasons for the failure to obtain such action, or the reasons for not making such an effort.

In its acceptance of the quotation from the insurer, moreover, First State Bank was required to acknowledge that its acceptance waived any rights the bank may have had under the discovery clause of the 1984 policy.

On March 12, 1987, Gerald E. Martin, on behalf of First State Bank, signed the quotation from American Casualty, accepting its offer of coverage and waiving invocation of the discovery option. In February of 1988, First State Bank failed and the FDIC was appointed receiver of the bank. The receiver then transferred various assets of First State Bank to the FDIC in that agency’s corporate capacity. In accordance with the provisions of a merger endorsement to the D & O policy, the failure of the bank effectively cancelled the insurance coverage provided by American Casualty as of the date of the failure. At that time, however, no claims for coverage under the policy had been made by any director or officer of First State Bank.

In March 1990, John A. Crisman, a shareholder of First State Bank, requested, in order to fulfill the requirements of Michigan Court Rule 3.502(A)2 and M.C.L.A. § 450.1493a,3 that the FDIC, as receiver, institute “a suit against the officers and directors of that bank to recover damages for malfeasance in office, negligence, fraud, and dereliction of duty.” When the FDIC refused to file such a suit, Crisman filed his own complaint in state court. In that complaint, Crisman named Gerald Martin, Richard Graves, George Rosenberg, David Hepin-stall,, Donald Rudert, Joseph Nelson, and [636]*636John Shepherd, all officers or directors of First State Bank, as defendants. Crisman’s complaint also explicitly stated that the action was being brought “on behalf of the First State Bank, White Cloud and its receiver, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation _” (Emphasis added.)

Eventually, the FDIC intervened in the Crisman lawsuit and removed the action to federal court. In March 1991, the FDIC filed its own complaint against Martin and Graves, but not against the other defendants named by Crisman.

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