Creative Hospitality Ventures, Inc. v. United States Liability Insurance

655 F. Supp. 2d 1316, 2009 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 101039, 2009 WL 2993739
CourtDistrict Court, S.D. Florida
DecidedSeptember 30, 2009
DocketCase 08-22302-CIV
StatusPublished
Cited by6 cases

This text of 655 F. Supp. 2d 1316 (Creative Hospitality Ventures, Inc. v. United States Liability Insurance) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, S.D. Florida primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Creative Hospitality Ventures, Inc. v. United States Liability Insurance, 655 F. Supp. 2d 1316, 2009 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 101039, 2009 WL 2993739 (S.D. Fla. 2009).

Opinion

ORDER

WILLIAM J. ZLOCH, District Judge.

THIS MATTER is before the Court upon the Report And Recommendation (DE 65) filed herein by United States Magistrate Judge Robin S. Rosenbaum. The Court has conducted a de novo review of the entire record herein and is otherwise fully advised in the premises.

Accordingly, after due consideration, it is

ORDERED AND ADJUDGED as follows:

1. The Court reserves ruling on the Report And Recommendation (DE 65) filed herein by United States Magistrate Judge Robin S. Rosenbaum as it pertains to the Defendant Essex Insurance Company’s Motion to Dismiss (DE 24) and Defendant Essex Insurance Company’s Objections to Magistrate’s Report and Recommendation (DE 66);

2. As it pertains to Defendant United States Liability Insurance Company’s Motion To Dismiss (DE 18), the Report and *1319 Recommendation (DE 65) filed herein by United States Magistrate Judge Robin S. Rosenbaum be and the same is hereby approved, adopted and ratified;

3. Defendant United States Liability Insurance Company’s Motion To Dismiss (DE 18) be and the same is hereby granted; and

4. Final Order Of Dismissal will be entered by separate order.

REPORT AND RECOMMENDATION

ROBIN S. ROSENBAUM, United States Magistrate Judge.

This matter is before the Court upon Defendant United States Liability Insurance Company’s and Defendant Essex Insurance Company’s Motions to Dismiss [D.E. 18, D.E. 24], referred to me for report and recommendation by the Honorable William J. Zloch. See D.E. 64. Upon consideration of the pending Motions, all filings in support thereof and in opposition thereto, the parties’ responses to the Court’s April 14, 2009, Order [D.E. 43], and the entire record, I make this Report and Recommendation recommending that Defendant United States Liability Insurance Company’s Motion to Dismiss [D.E. 18] be granted, and Defendant Essex Insurance Company’s Motion to Dismiss [D.E. 24] be denied.

I. Background

In this matter Plaintiffs Creative Hospitality Ventures, Inc. (“Creative”), and E.T. Limited, Inc. (“E.T.”), (collectively, “Plaintiffs”), seek a declaratory judgment against their respective insurers, Defendants United States Liability Insurance Company (“USLI”) and Essex Insurance Company, Inc. (“Essex”), (collectively, “Defendants”). Specifically, Plaintiffs ask the Court to find that Defendants are bound by insurance policies they issued to Plaintiffs to defend and indemnify Plaintiffs in underlying lawsuits filed against them.

This case finds its origins in Turner v. Creative Hospitality Ventures, Inc., Case No. 08-61040-CIV-ZLOCH/SNOW (S.D.Fla.) (“Turner”), and Chavoustie v. E.T. Limited, Inc., Case No. 08-20099 (Fla. 11th Circ.Ct.) (“Chavoustie"). 1 In Turner, Daniel Turner (“Turner”), a customer at a restaurant operated by Creative, sued Creative for damages resulting from alleged violations of the Fair and Accurate Credit Transactions Act, 15 U.S.C. § 1681c(g) (“FACTA”). See D.E. 47-4. Section 1681c(g) provides, in relevant part,

(g) Truncation of credit card and debit card numbers
(1) In general
Except as otherwise provided in this subsection, no person that accepts credit cards or debit cards for the transaction of business shall print more than the last 5 digits of the card number or the expiration date upon any receipt provided to the cardholder at the point of the sale or transaction.
(2) Limitation
*1320 This subsection shall apply only to receipts that are electronically printed, and shall not apply to transactions in which the sole means of recording a credit card or debit card account number is by handwriting or by an imprint or copy of the card.

FACTA imposes liability for willful and negligent violations of this provision as well as other directives of the FACTA. Under the statutory scheme, 15 U.S.C. § 1681o makes violators of FACTA liable for negligent noncompliance:

(a) In general
Any person who is negligent in failing to comply with any requirement imposed under this subchapter with respect to any consumer is liable to that consumer in an amount equal to the sum of—
(1) any actual damages sustained by the consumer as a result of the failure; and
(2) in the case of any successful action to enforce any liability under this section, the costs of the action together with reasonable attorney’s fees as determined by the court.
* * * * *

Section 1681n, on the other hand, establishes liability for willful violators:

(a) In general
Any person who willfully fails to comply with any requirement imposed under this subchapter with respect to any consumer is liable to that consumer in an amount equal to the sum of—
(1)(A) any actual damages sustained by the consumer as a result of the failure or damages of not less than $100 and not more than $1,000; ...
(2) such amount of punitive damages as the court may allow; and
(3) in the case of any successful action to enforce any liability under this section, the costs of the action together with reasonable attorney’s fees as determined by the court....
* * * * *

15 U.S.C. 1681n.

Turner, who sued for damages on his own behalf and on behalf of those similarly situated, alleged that on July 1, 2008, after Turner tendered his credit or debit card to pay for items Creative served him at its restaurant, Creative’s restaurant issued Turner an electronically printed receipt bearing the expiration date of Turner’s card, in violation of FACTA. Id. After receipt of service of the lawsuit, Creative invoked its insurance policy with USLI and requested coverage, seeking a defense to the lawsuit and indemnity. See D.E. 47 at 1 & 12; Counts I and II. USLI denied coverage. See id.

Chavoustie involved similar allegations. In that case Eric Chavoustie (“Chavoustie”), suing for damages on his own behalf and on behalf of those similarly situated, claimed that on October 9, 2007, Chavoustie used a payment card to pay for items served to him at E.T.’s restaurant. See

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Bluebook (online)
655 F. Supp. 2d 1316, 2009 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 101039, 2009 WL 2993739, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/creative-hospitality-ventures-inc-v-united-states-liability-insurance-flsd-2009.