Evans v. Allstate Insurance

216 F.R.D. 515, 2003 WL 21382474
CourtDistrict Court, N.D. Oklahoma
DecidedJune 13, 2003
DocketNo. 02-CV-935-H(J)
StatusPublished
Cited by7 cases

This text of 216 F.R.D. 515 (Evans v. Allstate Insurance) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, N.D. Oklahoma primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Evans v. Allstate Insurance, 216 F.R.D. 515, 2003 WL 21382474 (N.D. Okla. 2003).

Opinion

ORDER

JOYNER, United States Magistrate Judge.

Before the Court are the following motions taken under advisement at the June 11, 2003 hearing in the above-titled action: (1) Defendant’s Motion to Compel Plaintiffs to Respond to Interrogatories and Requests for Production of Documents [Doc. No. 36]; (2) Defendant’s Motion for Protective Order regarding Notices to Take Depositions of its Top Executive Officers, Edward Liddy, Thomas Wilson, and Dan Hale [Doe. No. 44]; and (3) Defendant’s Motion for Protective Order with regard to 30(b)(6) Notice [Doc. No. 52]. The Court additionally ruled on Defendant’s Motion for Leave to List an Expert Witness on Bad Faith at the hearing. [Doc. No. 56].

For the reasons discussed below, the Court DENIES Defendant’s Motion to Compel [Doc. No. 36], except as to the production of any agreements of sale or appraisals, which Plaintiffs have agreed to produce, to the extent such documents exist. The Court GRANTS Defendant’s Motion for Protective Order Prohibiting the Depositions of its Top Executive Officers, Edward Liddy, Thomas Wilson, and Dan Hale.1 [Doc. No. 44]. The Court GRANTS Defendant’s Motion for Protective Order regarding Plaintiffs’ Rule 30(b)(6) Deposition Notice [Doc. No. 52], and holds that the disputed areas of Plaintiffs’ [517]*517Rule 30(b)(6) Notice are properly resolved by the protective order submitted by Defendant, which is attached hereto. The Court GRANTS Defendant’s Motion for Leave to List an Expert Witness on Bad Faith. [Doc. No. 56], The date for listing an expert witness on bad faith is extended to July 1, 2003, for the sole purpose of allowing Defendant to add a witness on bad faith. The expert report shall be submitted on or before July 7, 2003.

I. INTRODUCTION

This case involves a dispute arising from Plaintiffs’ claims against their homeowners insurance policy, issued by Defendant Allstate, for successive fire losses causing damage to their home. The first fire occurred after the house was struck by lightning around October 10, 2001. A second fire occurred during the pendency of Plaintiffs’ initial claim on December 24, 2001, when Plaintiffs utilized a stove to prevent the pipes in the house from freezing.

Plaintiffs’ homeowners policy is in the amount of $77,000.00. Defendant states that it has already paid Plaintiffs in excess of $53,000.00 for the damage. However, Plaintiffs maintain that the house is infested with mold and, therefore, uninhabitable. Defendant contends that Plaintiffs have refused to make repairs, and that their failure to mitigate damages has resulted in the house remaining vacant.

Plaintiffs have sued Allstate Insurance Company for breach of contract, breach of the implied duty of good faith and fair dealing, and intentional infliction of emotional distress. Plaintiffs additionally allege that Allstate engages in institutional practices in bad faith to the detriment of its insureds.

II. DISCUSSION

A. Defendant’s Motion to Compel Plaintiffs to Respond to Interrogatories and Requests for Production of Documents [DOC. NO. 36].

Defendant’s Motion to Compel seeks adequate responses to the following interrogatories and requests for production:

(1) Interrogatory No. 14 (First Set): Regarding Plaintiffs’ gross household income for 1999,2000, and 2001;
(2) Request for Production No. 10 (First Set): Requesting Plaintiffs’ tax documents from 1999-2001;
(3) Request for Production No. 5 (Second Set): Requesting Plaintiffs’ checking and savings account bank statements for 2000-2001;
(4) Request for Production No. 6 (Second Set): Requesting a copy of Plaintiffs’ current credit report;
(5) Request for Production No. 7 (Second Set): Requesting copies of Plaintiffs’ federal and state tax returns for 2000-2001;
(6) Request for Production No. 8 (Second Set): Requesting all W-2s from Plaintiffs’ employer(s) for the past 10 years;
(7) Request for Production No. 9 (Second Set): Requesting authorizations for release of Plaintiffs’ employment records; and
(8) Request for Production No. 10 (Second Set): Requesting Plaintiffs’ mortgage records.

Defendant argues that Plaintiffs are seeking damages for “financial loss, embarrassment, humiliation, and mental pain and suffering,” by stating that they have “sustained a loss of enjoyment in life being unable to live in their home [and] sustained emotional distress.” See Plaintiffs’ First Amended Complaint. Accordingly, Defendant maintains that, because Plaintiffs have put their financial condition, humiliation, embarrassment, mental pain and suffering, and loss of enjoyment of life at issue, the requested information is relevant under Rule 26(b)(1) to fully discover the extent of Plaintiffs’ damage. Defendant contends that obtaining key information about Plaintiffs’ finances is necessary because the damages claimed are inextricably intertwined with, and bear directly upon, Plaintiffs’ financial condition.

At the hearing, Defendant submitted four cases, which it argues support its request for the above-requested financial information. There is little dispute as to the applicable law governing the request. It is well capsuled in [518]*518the ease of Fields v. General Motors Corp., 1996 WL 14040 (N.D.Ill.1996), in which the court noted that “[w]hile courts have been reticent to compel taxpayers to disclose income tax return information merely because they have become parties to a lawsuit, they nonetheless, have compelled production of income tax returns ‘where a litigant himself tenders an issue as to the amount of his income.’ ” Id. at *4. The Fields Court relied on Fed. Sav. & Loan Ins. Corp. v. Krueger, 55 F.R.D. 512 (N.D.Ill.1972), in which the court wrote:

[i]f this were a case where the taxpayer had made an issue of his income such as claiming loss due to injury, there would be no question that he had waived the confidentiality of his [income tax] returns and had thereby opened them upon to scrutiny -by his opponent. Unless a litigant himself makes an issue of his income, his income ' tax returns are not subject to discovery ... To compel the taxpayers themselves to furnish copies of their returns unless they have waived that right by making an issue of their income would be a subterfuge and defeat the very purpose of the [income tax confidentiality] statute.

Id. at 514.

The question here is whether Plaintiffs have placed the amount of their income at issue. The Court finds that Plaintiffs have not. Plaintiffs have stipulated that they are not pursuing lost income, and that the financial loss prayed for in their complaint is the financial loss or damage to the house. The four cases submitted by Defendant at the hearing are distinguishable on their facts. In Fields v. General Motors Corp., 1996 WL 14040 (N.D.Ill.1996), plaintiffs prayed for lost profits. In Biliske v. American Live Stock Ins. Co., 73 F.R.D. 124 (W.D.Okla.1977), plaintiffs claimed their business and reputation were damaged. Plaintiff in Matchen v. McGahey, 455 P.2d 52 (Okla.1969), alleged a restriction on her gainful employment due to her injuries. Finally, in Buntzman v. Springfield Redevelopment Auth.,

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
216 F.R.D. 515, 2003 WL 21382474, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/evans-v-allstate-insurance-oknd-2003.