First National Bank v. Lustig

150 F.R.D. 548, 1993 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 17169
CourtDistrict Court, E.D. Louisiana
DecidedJuly 30, 1993
DocketCiv. A. Nos. 87-5488, 88-1682
StatusPublished
Cited by1 cases

This text of 150 F.R.D. 548 (First National Bank v. Lustig) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, E.D. Louisiana primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
First National Bank v. Lustig, 150 F.R.D. 548, 1993 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 17169 (E.D. La. 1993).

Opinion

MENTZ, Senior District Judge.

Before the Court are several pre-trial motions which do not require oral argument.

Accordingly,

IT IS ORDERED that:

1) Plaintiffs [FNBL’s] Motion in Limine to Preclude Aetna/Federal from Asserting that the “Blown Take-outs” Show FNBL’s Failure to Mitigate or that FNBL’s Negligence Caused the Loss

DENIED. The jury’s verdict in the first trial has no bearing on the issues to be tried in the upcoming trial because the Fifth Circuit vacated the judgment on that verdict. Causation and mitigation remain viable issues on which the “blown take-outs” are relevant. The “blown take-outs” are not admissible on a contributory negligence defense. See Order and Reasons entered June 20, 1990 (“[a] bank’s mismanagement or negligence is not a defense to a fidelity bond claim”). The fact that the blown take-outs could demonstrate negligence on the part of FNBL (were negligence a proper issue) does not preclude use of the “blown take-outs” to show lack of causation and failure to mitigate.

2) FNBL’s Motion to Preclude Any Reference at Trial to Section b of the Bond, Because It Has Now Become Irrelevant

GRANTED IN PART—The Sureties are precluded from referring at trial to Section 4’s definition of “discovery” with respect to a timely notice defense based on Section 5 or an automatic termination defense based on Section 12.

Section 4, which defines when “discovery” of a loss occurs, is no longer relevant for determining the time period within which the insured must provide notice of the loss to the insurer under section 5 because the Sureties have voluntarily waived their timely notice defense. Section 4’s definition of “discovery” is also not relevant to the jury’s determination of whether coverage automatically terminated under section 12 as a result of the insured having “learned” of an employee’s dishonest or fraudulent act. Section 12 does not define “learn,” but it is for the Court to decide the legal definition and to instruct the jury in that regard. It will be the jury’s duty to apply the Court’s instruction on the legal definition of “learn” in deciding whether the evidence is sufficient to trigger section 12’s termination clause; section 4 is not relevant to their decision.

DENIED IN PART—The Court rejects FNBL’s position that the standard under section 12 for when an insured learns of an employee’s dishonest or fraudulent act is a purely subjective actual knowledge standard. The Court also rejects any suggestion by the Sureties that it is a purely objective “should have known” standard.

The definition of “discover” under section 4 is not determinative of the definition of “learn” under section 12, but is helpful in interpreting section 12’s termination provisions. See City State Bank in Wellington v. U.S.F. & G., 778 F.2d 1103, 1107 n. 4 (5th Cir.1985).

After having reviewed the legal authorities, this Court discerns no appreciable difference in the legal definition of “discover” and “learn.” Case law on this subject frequently interchanges or confuses terms like “actual discovery”, “actual knowledge”, “know”, “aware”, “learn” and “discover”, but regardless of the terminology used, the majority of courts actually apply a “reason to know” standard to section 12’s termination clause, which is the same standard described in section 4. The “reason to know” standard lies between the purely objective standard of “should have known” and the purely subjective standard of “actual knowledge”; it combines both subjective and objective elements—awareness of underlying facts from which the insured as a reasonable person should make certain inferences about the fact in question.

Section 12’s termination clause applies when the insured has actual knowledge of facts which would cause a reasonable person in the insured’s position to infer that an employee has committed dishonest or fraudu[551]*551lent acts. Mere suspicion of dishonesty without factual support from which a reasonable person would assume the existence of such dishonest or fraudulent acts is insufficient to activate the termination clause. Nor is there a duty to investigate a suspicion in order to develop the facts on which an assumption could reasonably be predicated. See City Bank In Wellington, 778 F.2d at 1107-1108 (adopting case law defining “discovery,” the court held that “learn” requires subjective knowledge of facts from which the insured could have reasonably inferred wrongdoing); Central Progressive Bank v. Fireman’s Fund Ins. Co., 658 F.2d 377, 380 (5th Cir.1981) (the termination provision applies where the insured has knowledge or information from which knowledge of dishonesty can be inferred); FDIC v. St. Paul Fire and Marine Ins. Co., 738 F.Supp. 1146, 1161-62 (M.D.Tenn.1990) (citing cases defining “discovery” the Court held that an insured “learns” of employee dishonesty when it has “knowledge which would justify a careful and prudent man in charging another with fraud or dishonesty”), rev’d on other grounds, 942 F.2d 1032 (6th Cir.1991).

3) [Plaintiff,] FNBL’s Motion in Limine to Preclude Aetna/Federal’s Contradictory Positions under Section 1¡. and Insuring Agreement A

MOOT—This motion does not present an actionable controversy because the Sureties are not asserting any position or claim that is dependent upon Section 4’s definition of when discovery of a loss occurs—the Sureties voluntarily waived their timely notice defense, and they have asserted no claim that FNBL discovered the loss outside the bond period.

4) [Plaintiff] FNBL’s Motion to Reconsider the Court’s Ruling That Knowledge of Outside Counsel is Knowledge of the “Insured” for Purposes of Automatic Termination Under Section 12 of the Bond

DENIED. Section 12’s automatic termination clause is triggered by “learning” of an employee’s dishonesty. Those whose learning triggers the clause are the “insured, or any director or officer.” The inclusion of the words “or any director or officer” does not restrict the “insured” to directors and officers. Because an insured entity like FNBL can act only through its agents, an agent of the insured may learn of dishonest or fraudulent acts within the scope of his authority on behalf of the insured in order to trigger section 12’s termination clause. See Mercedes-Benz of North America, Inc. v. Hartford Accident & Indemnity Co., 974 F.2d 1342 (9th Cir.1992); Ritchie Grocer Co. v. Aetna Cas. & Sur. Co., 426 F.2d 499 (8th Cir.1970); Orgeron v. Mine Safety Appliances Co., 603 F.Supp. 364 (E.D.La.1985); Lafayette Bank & Trust Co. v. Aetna Cas. and Sur. Co., 177 Conn. 137, 411 A.2d 937 (1979). Fidelity & Dep. Co. v. Courtney, 186 U.S. 342, 22 S.Ct. 833, 46 L.Ed.

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150 F.R.D. 548, 1993 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 17169, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/first-national-bank-v-lustig-laed-1993.