AmSouth Bank v. Quimby

963 So. 2d 1145, 2007 Miss. LEXIS 508, 2007 WL 2495112
CourtMississippi Supreme Court
DecidedSeptember 6, 2007
Docket2006-CA-00826-SCT
StatusPublished
Cited by6 cases

This text of 963 So. 2d 1145 (AmSouth Bank v. Quimby) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Mississippi Supreme Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
AmSouth Bank v. Quimby, 963 So. 2d 1145, 2007 Miss. LEXIS 508, 2007 WL 2495112 (Mich. 2007).

Opinion

963 So.2d 1145 (2007)

AMSOUTH BANK
v.
Charles QUIMBY.

No. 2006-CA-00826-SCT.

Supreme Court of Mississippi.

September 6, 2007.

*1146 E. Barney Robinson, III, attorney for appellant.

Stanley A. Sorey, Eugene C. Tullos, attorneys for appellee.

Before WALLER, P.J., EASLEY and GRAVES, JJ.

WALLER, Presiding Justice, for the Court.

¶ 1. Charles Quimby filed a complaint in the Circuit Court of Smith County against AmSouth Bank and American Heritage Life Insurance Company alleging that their failure to pay benefits under a credit disability insurance policy constituted a tortious breach of contract and caused him emotional distress. Both defendants filed answers, and AmSouth filed a motion to compel arbitration. The circuit court denied the motion to compel arbitration, and from its amended order, AmSouth now appeals.[1] Under the rule announced in Tupelo Auto Sales, Ltd. v. Scott, 844 So.2d 1167 (Miss.2003), this court has jurisdiction over this appeal.

FACTS

¶ 2. In 1985, Charles Quimby opened a line of credit with Deposit Guaranty National Bank. Deposit Guaranty is a predecessor to AmSouth Bank, having merged with AmSouth on December 31, 1999.[2] There is no signature card for the line of credit account in the record nor is there an original contract in the record covering this account. In his complaint, Quimby alleges that at the time he opened the line of credit, he requested credit disability insurance. On February 9, 2000, AmSouth mailed a Customer Agreement to each Mississippi resident with an open account. The agreement covered "the use of any type of depository account you have with us, both personal and nonpersonal, except for time deposits, certificates of deposit, and IRAs." It contained new terms for these accounts, notably including an arbitration clause.

¶ 3. According to his complaint, Quimby became disabled on June 15, 2000. He demanded benefits from American Heritage, which denied he is covered under any credit disability policy. Having been denied what he thought was due, Quimby filed suit in 2005 to recover the benefits plus compensatory damages for emotional distress and punitive damages for tortious breach of contract. AmSouth answered, raising arbitration as a defense, and subsequently *1147 filed a motion to compel arbitration.

¶ 4. After a hearing on the motion, the circuit court sent a letter to counsel explaining it would deny the motion and the basis of its ruling:

From the pleadings, briefs, exhibits, and authorities filed in connection with the above encaptioned matter, the following is clear:
1. The "Amendment to Customer Agreement" was effective March 17, 2000;
2. The plaintiff (according to his complaint) became disabled in June of 2000; and
3. The arbitration clause became effective March 1, 2004.
It is my opinion that since the plaintiff's cause of action accrued almost four (4) years prior to the effective date of the arbitration agreement, the bank's motion to compel arbitration and stay proceedings should be denied. It is also my opinion that this case is controlled by B.C. Rogers Poultry, et al v. Wedgeworth, 911 So.2d 483, 2005 WL 2234777 (Miss.).
I do not believe that the bank can rely on the March 17, 2000 "Amendment of Customer Agreement" because while said document does say the bank can change the customer agreement at any time, it does not say that future changes would relate back to March 17, 2000. Again, I think this is squarely in line with the ruling in the Rogers v. Wedgeworth case, despite Judge Lee's 2001 opinion in Beneficial National Bank, et al v. Payton, 214 F.Supp.2d 679.

After AmSouth filed a supplemental motion to compel arbitration, the circuit court wrote another letter to counsel which provided in relevant part:

I read and considered Mr. Robinson's October 19 letter and supplemental motion, together with the "intervening evidence," the "Second Affidavit of Kimberly Burkhalter." I compared this affidavit with Ms. Burkhalter's first one paragraph-by-paragraph and found the changes of little or no import. I found nothing to change the dates I felt controlling in my October 18 letter. Further, other than reading Rogers v. Wedgeworth different from me, the supplemented amended motion to compel arbitration simply appears to rehash matters I have already decided.

In its Amended Order Denying Motion to Compel Arbitration, the court incorporated these letters as the rationale for its ruling. The amended order itself includes no other grounds for denying the motion to compel arbitration. AmSouth appealed.

STANDARD OF REVIEW

¶ 5. An order denying a motion to compel arbitration raises a question of law and is subject to de novo review. Smith v. Captain D's, LLC, 963 So.2d 1116, 2006-CA-00024-SCT, ¶ 9 (June 14, 2007); East Ford, Inc. v. Taylor, 826 So.2d 709, 713 (Miss.2002). At this stage, this court's review is limited to a two-pronged inquiry: "The first prong has two considerations: (1) whether there is a valid arbitration agreement and (2) whether the parties' dispute is within the scope of the arbitration agreement. . . . Under the second prong, the United States Supreme Court has stated the question is `whether legal constraints external to the parties' agreement foreclosed arbitration of those claims.'" East Ford, Inc., 826 So.2d at 713 (quoting Mitsubishi Motors Corp. v. Soler Chrysler-Plymouth, Inc., 473 U.S. 614, 626, 105 S.Ct. 3346, 87 L.Ed.2d 444 (1985)). Under the second prong, applicable contract defenses available under state contract law such as fraud, duress, and unconscionability *1148 may be asserted to invalidate the arbitration agreement without offending the Federal Arbitration Act. Id. (citing Doctor's Assocs., Inc. v. Casarotto, 517 U.S. 681, 686, 116 S.Ct. 1652, 134 L.Ed.2d 902 (1996)). We find that Quimby's claims do not fall within the scope of a valid arbitration clause in AmSouth's Customer Agreements, and hold that the circuit court's judgment is correct and is hereby affirmed.

DISCUSSION

¶ 6. The circuit court's judgment denying the motion to compel arbitration rests primarily upon this court's opinion in B.C. Rogers Poultry, Inc. v. Wedgeworth, 911 So.2d 483 (Miss.2005). AmSouth devotes half of its brief to arguing that the circuit court misapplied its holding, reaching an incorrect result and requiring reversal. Quimby responds that the arbitration agreement came into effect after his claims arose, and the agreement does not cover the claims in his complaint which concern his credit disability insurance policy. He also counters by raising contract defenses available under state law which operate to invalidate the arbitration clauses. The Wedgeworth opinion and the circuit court's application are discussed below.

¶ 7. In the Wedgeworth case, a poultry grower, Wedgeworth, contracted with a poultry processor, B.C. Rogers, to house and care for B.C. Rogers's live inventory. Wedgeworth, 911 So.2d at 485. The written contract between the parties contained an arbitration clause whose scope included "all disputes arising under this agreement." Id.

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Bluebook (online)
963 So. 2d 1145, 2007 Miss. LEXIS 508, 2007 WL 2495112, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/amsouth-bank-v-quimby-miss-2007.