Crawford's Auto Center, Inc. v. State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Co.

259 F. Supp. 3d 1344
CourtDistrict Court, M.D. Florida
DecidedMay 8, 2017
DocketCase No: 6:14-cv-6016-Orl-31TBS
StatusPublished

This text of 259 F. Supp. 3d 1344 (Crawford's Auto Center, Inc. v. State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Co.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, M.D. Florida primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Crawford's Auto Center, Inc. v. State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Co., 259 F. Supp. 3d 1344 (M.D. Fla. 2017).

Opinion

Order

GREGORY A. PRESNELL, UNITED STATES DISTRICT JUDGE

This matter comes before the Court after a hearing on various motions to dismiss (Doc. 209-211) filed by the Defendants, the response in opposition (Doc. 216) filed by the Plaintiffs, the replies (Doc. 224, 226, 228) filed by the Defendants, and the sur-reply (Doc. 235).

I. Background

The instant case is one of 24 similar actions, consolidated for pretrial purposes, in which auto repair shops' in a particular state have accused insurance companies improperly attempting to suppress the amounts they are obligated to pay for automobile repairs. The other 23 cases primarily asserted antitrust claims; the instant case proceeds primarily under the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act rather than the Sherman Act.

The lead case among these actions— henceforth, the “Florida Action” — was filed in this court in February 2014. The initial complaint in that case was dismissed sua sponte in June 2014 on the grounds that it was a prohibited “shotgun” pleading, that it failed to properly set forth the basis for the Court’s jurisdiction, that it failed to identify which parties had ongoing contracts with one another, and that all of the- alleged misdeeds were attributed, collectively, to every Defendant, even where such collective attribution made no sense. (Doc. 110 at 1-2 in Case No. 6:14-cv-310-OH-31TBS).

The plaintiffs in the Florida Action filed an amended complaint later that same month. (Doc. 167 in Case No. 6:14-cv-310-Orl-31TBS).’ Subsequently, various defendants moved to dismiss. In January 2015, this court granted those motions in part, dismissing all the claims in the' Florida Action, some with prejudice. (Doc. 291 in Case No. 6:14-cv-310-Orl-31TBS). The [1348]*1348Sherman Act claims in that case — one for price-fixing, and one for ah illegal boycott — were dismissed because the Florida Action Plaintiffs had failed to adequately plead the existence of an agreement and had failed to adequately allege a concerted refusal to deal, respectively. (Doc. 291 at 20-21 in Case No. 6:14-cv-310-0rl-31TBS). After another amended complaint and another round of motions to dismiss, the Court dismissed the Florida Action with prejudice in September 2015. (Doc. 341 in Case No. 6:14-cv-310-Orl-31TBS). In regard to the antitrust claims, the court again found that the plaintiffs had failed to adequately allege the existence of an agreement or a concerted refusal to deal. (Doc. 341 at 20-21 in Case No. 6:14-cv-310-Orl-31TBS). The plaintiffs in the Florida Action did not appeal that dismissal.1

The instant case was filed in the United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois in April 2014. (Doc. 1). On December 61, 2014, the United States Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation transferred the case to this Court. (Doc. 61). In February, 2015, three groups of Defendants filed motions to dismiss. On November 25, 2015, the Court granted the motions and dismissed the First Amended Complaint (Doc. 138). The Plaintiffs then filed their Second Amended Complaint (Doc. 213); in response, the Defendants filed the motions that are the subject of this order.

Except where indicated, the following is taken from the Second Amended Complaint (Doc. 205) (henceforth, the “SAC”)) which is accepted as true in pertinent part for purposes of resolving the instant motions. The Plaintiffs in this putative class action — Crawford’s Auto Center, Inc. (“Crawford’s”) and K&M dollision, LLG (“K&M”)- — operate automobile collision repair .facilities in Pennsylvania and North Carolina, respectively. (SAC at 8-9), The Defendants are seventy-odd automobile insurance companies,2 arranged into seven groups, with principal places of business scattered across the' United States.3 Col[1349]*1349lectively, the seven groups are referred to as the “Defendant Insurers.”

According to the Plaintiffs, the Defendant Insurers have engaged in fraud and extortion to reduce the amounts they would otherwise have to pay for repairs to vehicles owned (or damaged) by their insureds. (SÁC at 116-17). The Plaintiffs allege that the Defendant Insurers have made misrepresentations and omitted material facts as to the “prevailing rate”4 for automobile repairs “for the purpose of deceiving Plaintiffs ... to accept artificially suppressed compensation for insured repairs.” (SAC at 119). In addition and/or in the alternative, the Plaintiffs allege that they were, among other things, “coerced or forced to accept suppressed compensation for insured repairs predicated on fear of economic harm, i e., if the repair facilities wanted to do business with Defendant Insurers.” (SAC at 121).

In carrying out their schemes, the Plaintiffs allege, the Defendant Insurers have been assisted by three “Information Providers” — CCC Information Services, Inc. (“CCC”), Mitchell International, Inc. (“Mitchell”), and AudaExplore North America, Inc. (“Audaexplóre”). The Information Providers gather data regarding such things as labor rates and material costs and provide software for estimating the cost of automobile repairs. (SAC at 13-14). The Information Providers have not been named as defendants in this suit.

In the first seven counts of the Second Amended Complaint, the Plaintiffs assert seven claims under the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act (“RICO”), 18 U.S.C, §§ 1961-1968 — one against each Defendant Insurer. (In addition to the direct allegations of fraud and extortion, each of the RICO counts also includes allegations that the Defendant Insurer conspired to defraud and extort the Plaintiffs, in violation ' of 18 U.S.C. § 1962(c).) In Count VIII and Count IX, the Plaintiffs assert state law claims for unjust enrichment and fraud. The state law claims are asserted against all of the Defendants collectively.

II. Legal Standards

A. Motions to Dismiss

Federal Rule of Civil- Procedure 8(a)(2) requires “a short and plain statement of the claim showing that the pleader is entitled to relief’ so as to give the defendant fair.notice of what the claim is and the grounds upon which it rests, Conley v. Gibson, 355 U.S. 41, 47, 78 S.Ct. 99, 103, 2 L.Ed.2d 80 (1957), overruled on other grounds, Bell Atlantic Corp. v. Twombly, 550 U.S. 544, 127 S.Ct. 1955, 167 L.Ed.2d 929 (2007). A Rule 12(b)(6) motion to dismiss for failure to state a claim merely tests the sufficiency of the complaint; it does not decide the merits of the case. Milburn v. United States, 734 F.2d 762, 765 (11th Cir. 1984). In ruling on a motion to dismiss, the Court must accept the factual allegations as true and construe the complaint in the light most favorable to the plaintiff. SEC v. ESM Group, Inc., 835 F.2d 270, 272 (11th Cir. 1988).

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
259 F. Supp. 3d 1344, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/crawfords-auto-center-inc-v-state-farm-mutual-automobile-insurance-co-flmd-2017.