Black Diamond Girl Scout Council, Inc. v. St. Paul Fire & Marine Insurance

621 F. Supp. 96, 3 Fed. R. Serv. 3d 848, 1985 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 17776
CourtDistrict Court, S.D. West Virginia
DecidedJuly 18, 1985
DocketCiv. A. 84-2159
StatusPublished
Cited by7 cases

This text of 621 F. Supp. 96 (Black Diamond Girl Scout Council, Inc. v. St. Paul Fire & Marine Insurance) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, S.D. West Virginia primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Black Diamond Girl Scout Council, Inc. v. St. Paul Fire & Marine Insurance, 621 F. Supp. 96, 3 Fed. R. Serv. 3d 848, 1985 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 17776 (S.D.W. Va. 1985).

Opinion

MEMORANDUM ORDER

COPENHAVER, District Judge.

This matter is before the court upon the motion of the defendant, St. Paul Fire and Marine Insurance Company (hereinafter St. Paul), for joinder of certain parties as plaintiffs pursuant to Rule 19 of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, and upon the motion of plaintiff, Black Diamond Girl Scout Council, Inc. (hereinafter Black Diamond), for summary judgment and declaratory relief. Each motion will be dealt with in turn.

*97 This action was removed to the United States District Court for the Southern District of West Virginia from the Circuit Court of Kanawha County, West Virginia, on April 19, 1984. Black Diamond seeks a declaratory judgment that St. Paul is obligated under the terms of its liability insurance contract with Black Diamond to provide legal defense and representation and to provide policy coverage for Black Diamond with respect to a civil action pending in the Circuit Court of Taylor County, West Virginia. In the Taylor County, action which is styled Helen M. Jones, Administratrix, et al. v. Black Diamond Girl Scout Council, et al., Jones sued Black Diamond and four others on account of the alleged wrongful death of a former Black Diamond employee.

JOINDER OF PARTIES

St. Paul has moved the court to enter an order joining as additional plaintiffs the parties in the Taylor County action. It is asserted that the parties who are sought to be joined are subject to jurisdiction and that service of process may be made upon them.

Rule 19 of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure provides in pertinent part:

(a) Persons to be Joined if Feasible. A person who is subject to service of process and whose joinder will not deprive the court of jurisdiction over the subject matter of the action shall be joined as a party in the action if (1) in his absence complete relief cannot be accorded among those already parties, or (2) he claims an interest relating to the subject of the action and is so situated that the disposition of the action in his absence may (i) as a practical matter impair or impede his ability to protect that interest or (ii) leave any of the persons already parties subject to a substantial risk of incurring double, multiple, or otherwise inconsistent obligations by reason of his claimed interest. If he has not been so joined, the court shall order that he be made a party. If he should join as a plaintiff but refuses to do so, he may be made a defendant, or, in a proper case, an involuntary plaintiff. If the joined party objects to venue and his joinder would render the venue of the action improper, he shall be dismissed from the action.

St. Paul observes that upon a verdict for the plaintiff in the Taylor County action, the plaintiff may file a direct action against St. Paul upon nonpayment of judgment by Black Diamond. Similarly, St. Paul comments that if judgment is entered against both Black Diamond and any other of the defendants and judgment is paid by any other defendant, then that defendant has a right of contribution against Black Diamond. It is argued that the parties in the Taylor County action are necessary since they have claims which will be affected by declaration of the court in this action; that disposition of the action may impair or impede their ability to protect their interest, and that in their absence St. Paul will be subjected to a substantial risk of incurring double, multiple, or otherwise inconsistent obligations. Finally, St. Paul claims that in the absence of the parties in the Taylor County action, complete relief cannot be accorded between St. Paul and Black Diamond.

As the commentators have discussed, “[tjhere is no precise formula for determining whether a particular nonparty must be joined under Rule 19(a). The decision has to be made in terms of the general policies of avoiding multiple litigation, providing the parties with complete and effective relief in a single action, and protecting the absent persons from the possible prejudicial effect of deciding the case without them.” 7 Wright & Miller, Federal Practice and Procedure: Civil § 1604 at 35 (1972 & Pocket Part 1985); see also, 3A Moore’s Federal Practice ¶ 19.01 — 1[1] (1985).

Black Diamond’s claim for declaratory relief simply seeks to establish St. Paul’s duties and obligations under an insurance contract to which only Black Diamond and St. Paul are parties. Thus, under Rule 19 standards, “complete relief *98 [can] be accorded among those already parties.” The subject insurance contract has nothing to do with the rights and obligations of any of the parties to the Taylor County action. St. Paul’s arguments are purely hypothetical as the plaintiff in the Taylor County action has no judgment with which to bring any action against St. Paul as Black Diamond’s liability insurer, nor do Black Diamond’s co-defendants have any present right to proceed against St. Paul. Nor is there any way at this time to determine if plaintiff obtains a judgment against one or more of the co-defendants in the state court action whether all or any part of the liability would be assessed against Black Diamond under West Virginia’s comparative fault, comparative contribution rules. Indeed, complete relief can be accorded simply by the adjudication of St. Paul’s duties under the policy which requires neither the state court plaintiff or defendants. Furthermore, the potential interests of the parties in the state court action simply do not rise to the level of a protectible interest as required by Rule 19. See Hoosier Casualty Co. v. Fox, 102 F.Supp. 214 (N.D.Iowa 1952) (holding that an injured party in an underlying tort action was not a necessary party in an action by an insurer for declaratory judgment of nonliability where the injured person had not obtained judgment against the insured).

There is also no merit to St. Paul’s assertions that the plaintiff in the state court action directly, or any of the co-defendants, by subrogation or assignment will subject St. Paul to a substantial risk of incurring double, multiple, or otherwise inconsistent obligations with respect to the insurance contract. The court will rule on two issues. First, it will be determined whether St. Paul has a duty to defend Black Diamond. The second issue is whether St. Paul is obligated to provide coverage under the terms of the policy. Once judgment is entered as to these issues, future relitigation of the issues will be barred under the doctrine of collateral estoppel. See e.g., Montana v. United States, 440 U.S. 147, 99 S.Ct. 970, 59 L.Ed.2d 210 (1979); Parklane Hosiery Co. v. Shore, 439 U.S. 322, 99 S.Ct. 645, 58 L.Ed.2d 552 (1979); Yarn Industries v. Krupp International, Inc., 736 F.2d 125

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621 F. Supp. 96, 3 Fed. R. Serv. 3d 848, 1985 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 17776, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/black-diamond-girl-scout-council-inc-v-st-paul-fire-marine-insurance-wvsd-1985.