Ex Parte State Farm Mut. Auto. Ins. Co.

924 So. 2d 706, 2005 WL 1540909
CourtSupreme Court of Alabama
DecidedJuly 1, 2005
Docket1030470
StatusPublished
Cited by5 cases

This text of 924 So. 2d 706 (Ex Parte State Farm Mut. Auto. Ins. Co.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Supreme Court of Alabama primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Ex Parte State Farm Mut. Auto. Ins. Co., 924 So. 2d 706, 2005 WL 1540909 (Ala. 2005).

Opinion

924 So.2d 706 (2005)

Ex parte STATE FARM MUTUAL AUTOMOBILE INSURANCE COMPANY.
(In re Tina M. Zuicarelli
v.
Ophelia A. Clark and State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Company).

1030470.

Supreme Court of Alabama.

July 1, 2005.
Rehearing Denied September 30, 2005.

*707 Michael B. Beers, Constance T. Buckalew, and D. Scott Mitchell of Beers, Anderson, Jackson, Patty & Van Heest, P.C., Montgomery, for petitioner.

John P. Graves of Law Offices of Frank R. Farish, Birmingham, for respondent.

SMITH, Justice.[1]

State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Company ("State Farm") and Ophelia A. Clark sued Tina M. Zuicarelli as the result of a motor-vehicle accident involving Clark, who is insured by State Farm, and Zuicarelli. State Farm sought reimbursement of, among other things, the amounts it had paid to repair Clark's vehicle and medical expenses. Zuicarelli filed a counterclaim alleging both negligence and wantonness on the part of State Farm and Clark in conduct she asserts resulted in the suspension of her commercial driver's license. The trial court entered a summary judgment in State Farm and Clark's favor on Zuicarelli's counterclaim, and Zuicarelli appealed. The Court of Civil Appeals affirmed the summary judgment on Zuicarelli's wantonness claim, but reversed the summary judgment on her negligence claim. See Zuicarelli v. Clark, 924 So.2d 701 (Ala.Civ.App.2003). State Farm *708 sought certiorari review of the Court of Civil Appeals' judgment insofar as it reversed the summary judgment, and this Court granted State Farm's petition. We now reverse the judgment of the Court of Civil Appeals in part and render a judgment in part in State Farm's favor.

Facts and Procedural History

On August 8, 1998, Roger Sheffield was driving a motor vehicle owned by Clark; Clark was a passenger in the vehicle. Clark alleged that, as the vehicle approached an intersection, Sheffield swerved to avoid a collision with a motor vehicle being driven by Zuicarelli. Clark's vehicle did not collide with Zuicarelli's vehicle. In avoiding the collision, however, Clark's vehicle entered a ditch and sustained damage. Clark also suffered personal injuries. Clark's insurance carrier, State Farm, paid for the repair of Clark's vehicle, rental expenses for Clark's use of another vehicle while hers was being repaired, and medical expenses.

State Farm subsequently sought to enforce its subrogation rights and to obtain reimbursement from Zuicarelli for the amount it had paid Clark. The record reveals that State Farm employees made telephone calls to Zuicarelli and mailed at least one letter to the address at which Zuicarelli resided throughout these proceedings: Route 2, Box 155, Verbena, Alabama.

Ultimately, State Farm and Clark sued Zuicarelli seeking damages as a result of the accident. However, the summons was addressed to Route 5, Box 155, instead of to Route 2. When service of process failed, State Farm sent by certified mail a second summons to 3143 Lin Tel Road, St. Louis, Missouri, an address State Farm discovered during a "nationwide search" to determine Zuicarelli's residence. Zuicarelli, however, did not reside at that address.

After they were unable to serve Zuicarelli through a process server or by certified mail, State Farm petitioned the trial court to serve Zuicarelli by publication, pursuant to Rule 4.3, Ala. R. Civ. P. The necessary publications were made, and on November 3, 2000, the trial court deemed Zuicarelli served by publication. Zuicarelli did not respond to the complaint, and on January 17, 2001, a default judgment was entered in favor of State Farm and Clark by the trial court's entry on the case action summary. On January 25, 2001, a copy of the case action summary was sent to the parties, notifying them of the entry of the default judgment. Presumably, it was sent to Zuicarelli at the incorrect Route 5, Box 155 address, which is the address for Zuicarelli found in the case action summary.

On February 15, 2001, State Farm's counsel mailed a letter to Zuicarelli informing her that a "judgment" had been entered against her and seeking a collection agreement ("the February 15 letter"). That letter, however, appears to have been mailed to the incorrect St. Louis, Missouri, address.[2]

On April 20, 2001, State Farm forwarded a copy of the default judgment to the Department of Public Safety ("the Department"). State Farm included an executed copy of the "P.F.R. 1" form, a form supplied by the Department, which is entitled "Abstract of Judgment for Damages (Arising Out of Motor Vehicle Accident)." The bottom of the P.F.R. 1 form states: "Note: this form is required by the provisions of [Ala.Code 1975, § 32-7-13] and should be *709 mailed together with a certified copy of the Judgment. . . ."[3] The form recited that a judgment had been obtained against Zuicarelli, and it included a certification by the clerk of the Chilton Circuit Court stating, among other things, that the judgment had not been appealed or satisfied.[4] Zuicarelli alleges that as a result of State Farm's report, the Department subsequently suspended her driver's license, which was a commercial license.

Zuicarelli later filed a Rule 60(b), Ala. R. Civ. P., motion seeking to set aside the default judgment. The trial court granted the motion, and Zuicarelli then filed an answer to State Farm and Clark's complaint. On November 29, 2001, Zuicarelli filed a counterclaim, in which she alleged:

"23. That [State Farm and Clark] were negligent, reckless, and/or wanton in their actions that resulted in the suspension of [Zuicarelli's] commercial drivers [sic] license.
"24. That as a proximate cause of the aforesaid negligence, recklessness, and/or wantonness [Zuicarelli] was caused to suffer the damages of lost income, interest on the same, humiliation, embarrassment, undue worry and concern, indignation, inconvenience, and lost employment."

State Farm and Clark filed a motion for a summary judgment on Zuicarelli's counterclaim. In their motion, State Farm and Clark argued that there was no cause of action available for negligent or wanton conduct resulting in a suspension of a commercial driver's license; that their report to the Department of the unsatisfied default judgment was required by law; and that, under the facts of the case, Zuicarelli could file an action alleging only malicious prosecution. Moreover, State Farm argued, Zuicarelli's allegation of negligence failed to meet the standard of culpability required for a malicious-prosecution action. Zuicarelli filed a brief in opposition to the motion for a summary judgment, in which she argued that there existed a genuine issue of material fact as to State Farm's reason for reporting the unsatisfied judgment to the Department.

On February 19, 2003, the trial court entered a summary judgment for State Farm and Clark on Zuicarelli's counterclaim. The summary judgment was not a final judgment, and Zuicarelli did not immediately seek to appeal. A jury trial was held on State Farm and Clark's complaint; on March 3, 2003, the jury found that Zuicarelli was not responsible for the damage done to Clark's vehicle or for the injuries resulting from the accident. Zuicarelli then appealed the trial court's summary judgment on her counterclaim to this Court; the appeal was transferred to the Court of Civil Appeals pursuant to Ala. Code 1975, § 12-2-7(6).

The Court of Civil Appeals affirmed the trial court's summary judgment on Zuicarelli's

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
924 So. 2d 706, 2005 WL 1540909, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/ex-parte-state-farm-mut-auto-ins-co-ala-2005.