Federated Mutual Insurance Company v. State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Company

CourtDistrict Court, D. Minnesota
DecidedMarch 24, 2020
Docket0:18-cv-02361
StatusUnknown

This text of Federated Mutual Insurance Company v. State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Company (Federated Mutual Insurance Company v. State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Company) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, D. Minnesota primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Federated Mutual Insurance Company v. State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Company, (mnd 2020).

Opinion

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT

DISTRICT OF MINNESOTA FEDERATED MUTUAL INSURANCE COMPANY, Civil No. 18-2361 (JRT/HB)

Plaintiffs,

v. MEMORANDUM OPINION & ORDER ON DEFENDANT’S MOTION TO DISMISS AND STATE FARM MUTUAL AUTOMOBILE CROSS MOTIONS FOR SUMMARY INSURANCE COMPANY, JUDGMENT

Defendants.

Mark R Bradford and Stanford P. Hill, BASSFORD REMELE, 100 South Fifth Street, Suite 1500 Minneapolis, MN 55402, for Plaintiff.

Scott G Williams, HKM LAW GROUP, 30 East Seventh Street, Suite 3200, St Paul, MN 55101, for Defendant.

State Farm filed a Motion to Dismiss under Fed. R. Civ. P. 12(b)(1) and a Motion for Summary Judgment under Fed. R. Civ. P. 56(a) related to Plaintiff Federated Mutual Insurance Company’s (“Federated”) declaratory judgment and equitable subrogation action seeking the recovery of court-ordered costs and interest Federated paid that it alleged State Farm was liable for. Federated also moves for Summary Judgment under Fed. R. Civ. P. 56(a). Because the Court finds that Federated has standing, that Minnesota law recognizes the excess insurer’s equitable subrogation rights against the primary insurer, and that no genuine dispute of fact remains and that Federated has shown, as a matter of law, that State Farm was liable for court costs and pre-judgment interest under the State Farm insurance policy, the Court will deny State Farm’s motions and grant in

part and deny in part Federated’s Motion for Summary Judgment. BACKGROUND

I. FACTUAL BACKGROUND This case arises out of a 2009 automobile accident, an ensuing state court action, and a dispute about which insurance company is liable for the payment of costs and

“interest due to judgment” related to an adverse verdict and order for judgment against the mutually insured party in the underlying case.

A. The State Court Action In 2009, then-16-year-old William McMillan was rear-ended by Nicole Catherine

Groenke while on his way to school, leaving McMillan severely injured. (Declaration of Mark R. Bradford (“Bradford Decl.”) ¶ 5, Ex. 4 at 60, June 19, 2019, Docket No. 18-1.) Groenke had primary insurance coverage through State Farm. (Bradford Decl. ¶ 2, Ex. 1 (“State Farm Policy”), June 19, 2019, Docket No. 18-1.) The State Farm policy provided

Groenke with liability coverage up to $500,000 and, stated In addition to the limits of liability, [State Farm] will pay for an insured any costs listed below resulting from such accident. 1. Court costs of any suit for damages that we defend. 2. Interest on damages owed by the insured due to a judgment and accruing: a. After the judgment, and until we pay, offer or deposit in court the amount due under this coverage; or b. Before the judgment, where owed by law, and until we pay, offer or deposit in court the amount due under this coverage, but only on that part of the judgment we pay. (State Farm Policy at 15 (emphasis omitted.)) The parties do not dispute that Minnesota law governs the interpretation of the State Farm Policy. Groenke also had excess insurance coverage through Federated, which identified the State Farm policy and provided coverage “in excess” of said policy, up to $5,000,000. (Bradford Decl. ¶ 3, Ex. 2 at 46, 48, June 19, 2019, Docket No. 18-1.) McMillan filed suit against Groenke in 2015 in Minnesota state court. See McMillan v. Groenke, Court File No. 27-CV-15-4068 (Hennepin County). As Groenke’s primary insurer, State Farm hired counsel to defend Groenke and controlled the litigation. (See 2d Aff. of Scott G. Williams ¶¶ 2–4, Exs. A–C, July 10, 2019, Docket No. 22 (letters from outside counsel State Farm hired to litigate the dispute).) On November 15, 2016,

a jury found Groenke 100 percent at fault and awarded McMillan $3.25 million in damages, allocated as follows: Past pain, disability, and emotional distress: $290,000 Future pain, disability, and emotional distress: $1,325,000 Loss of future earning capacity: $1,360,000 Future healthcare expenses: $275,000 (Bradford Decl. ¶ 4, Ex. 3 at 57.) On December 5, 2016, McMillan’s counsel filed an affidavit outlining the costs McMillan believed he was entitled to recover in addition to the damages award, and also

emailed State Farm informing them of such costs. (Id. ¶¶ 7– 8, Exs. 6 and 7.) On December 9, 2016, the state court issued an order for judgment adopting the verdict. (Bradford Decl. ¶ 5, Ex. 4 at 62.) The order noted that, as a matter of law, McMillan was entitled to pre-verdict interest on the $290,000 for past pain, disability, and

emotional distress at a rate of 10% per year; post-verdict/pre-judgment interest on the entire $3.25 million damages award at a rate of 10% per year (or roughly $890.41 per day); and “post-judgment interest together with such costs and disbursements as may be

taxed against [Groenke].” (Id. at 61–62; see also Minn. Stat. § 549.04 subd. 1 (discussing entitlement to taxable costs), § 549.09 (discussing entitlement to interest on damages.)) The entry of judgment was automatically stayed for 30 days per Minn. R. Gen. P. 125, which sets a standard 30-day stay of entry on all orders for judgment that follow a trial to

allow the parties to file post-trial motions and draft appeals without formal collection efforts. See Minn. R. Gen. P. 125.

B. State Farm’s “Drake-Ryan Agreement” with McMillan After the state court issued its order for judgment, State Farm began “Drake-Ryan

Agreement” discussions with McMillan. (Bradford Decl. ¶ 9, Ex. 8 at 11.) A “Drake-Ryan Agreement” is, essentially, a partial settlement agreement in which a claimant releases all claims against the primary insurer (which then extracts itself from the litigation) and the insured up to the limits of the primary insurer’s policy coverage while retaining the right to bring claims against the defendant for a damage award up to the limits of the

excess insurer’s policy coverage. Drake v. Ryan, 514 N.W.2d 785, 790 (Minn. 1994). Although Drake-Ryan Agreements do not require the primary insurer to actually exhaust its policy, if the primary settles for less than its total coverage limits, the Drake-Ryan must include a waiver acknowledging the primary’s policy was not exhausted and that the

plaintiff will only seek to recover damages “in excess” of the primary’s coverage limits. Id. at 789. On December 19, 2016, State Farm sent a draft Drake-Ryan Agreement to

McMillan offering him $380,000 as the “full extent of the remaining liability limit of the State Farm policy.”1 (Bradford Decl. ¶ 9, Ex. 8 at 11.) The draft agreement did not discuss any additional obligation to pay for court costs or interest on the judgment or include a waiver of such costs and interest. (Id.) State Farm also cc’d Federated on the mailing.

(Id. at 9.) On December 21, 2016, Federated wrote to State Farm raising concerns that the draft agreement did not actually exhaust State Farm’s obligations to Groenke because it did not account for costs and interest. (Id. ¶ 10, Ex. 9 at 15-16.) Federated requested

confirmation that State Farm would pay the “costs and all interest accrued, in addition to

1 State Farm previously paid $120,000 from the policy to another claimant from the same accident. (See Bradford Dec. ¶ 12, Ex. 11 at 27.) Therefore, only $380,000 of the $500,000 liability coverage was left for McMillan to recover. (Id.) its remaining indemnity limits of $380,000” so that Federated could begin to pursue a global settlement with McMillan. (Id.

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