Garay-Lara v. Cornerstone National Insurance Co.

145 So. 3d 423, 2013 La.App. 1 Cir. 2016, 2014 WL 1757582, 2014 La. App. LEXIS 1147
CourtLouisiana Court of Appeal
DecidedMay 2, 2014
DocketNo. 2013 CA 2016
StatusPublished
Cited by5 cases

This text of 145 So. 3d 423 (Garay-Lara v. Cornerstone National Insurance Co.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Louisiana Court of Appeal primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Garay-Lara v. Cornerstone National Insurance Co., 145 So. 3d 423, 2013 La.App. 1 Cir. 2016, 2014 WL 1757582, 2014 La. App. LEXIS 1147 (La. Ct. App. 2014).

Opinion

PETTIGREW, J.

|2The salient issue in this appeal is whether the trial court erred in finding that plaintiff Jose A. Garay-Lara’s selection to reject uninsured motorist coverage in his automobile insurance policy was valid, thus supporting the grant of summary judgment in favor of the defendant insurance company. After a thorough and de novo review of the record, we find no error and affirm.

BACKGROUND FACTS AND PROCEDURAL HISTORY

On April 26, 2011, plaintiff, Jose A. Ga-ray-Lara, was operating a 2001 Toyota Tundra truck, travelling westbound on La. Hwy. 427 (aka Perkins Road), in Ascension Parish. His vehicle was struck by a 2008 Volkswagen Beetle, owned by Shelia White Gautreau, and operated by Tammy Denise Dean. It is alleged that the collision caused property damage to the Tundra truck, and personal injuries to Mr. Garay-Lara and his passengers Juan C. Cubas-Zaldiva and Marco Antonio Enamorado. Plaintiffs allege that Ms. Dean was at fault in causing the accident,1 and Ms. Gautreau and Ms. Dean were uninsured and/or underinsured [424]*424for the collision and the resulting damages.2

On April 24, 2012, plaintiffs filed a petition for damages, naming as defendant Mr. Garay-Lara’s automobile liability insurer, Cornerstone National Insurance Company (Cornerstone), alleging it provided him with a policy that included uninsured motorist coverage at the time of the accident. Cornerstone filed a motion for summary judgment asserting that Mr. Garay-Lara completed a valid UM bodily injury rejection form, and consequently, the policy issued to him did not provide UM coverage for the damages sought. The initial summary judgment motion was denied by judgment dated July 30, 2012. However, Cornerstone subsequently filed a second motion for summary judgment, on the same basis, together with competent supporting evidence. By judgment dated March 6, 2013, the motion for summary judgment was granted and plaintiffs’ claims were ^dismissed with prejudice. This appeal by the plaintiffs followed, asserting the trial court erred in granting summary judgment because the evidence presented established that Mr. Garay-Lara’s selection to decline UM coverage in the policy issued to him was not “meaningful” and therefore, invalid.

ARGUMENTS AND EVIDENCE PRESENTED IN SUPPORT OF AND IN OPPOSITION TO SUMMARY JUDGMENT

Cornerstone submitted into evidence the automobile liability policy issued to Mr. Garay-Lara effective on the date of the accident. This application reflects that in the UM coverage section, the initials of Mr. Gai’ay-Lara, “JAGL,” appear on the line evidencing an intent to reject such coverage. (The lines preceding the rejection, applicable to selecting UM coverage in varying amounts, are typed in “NA.”)

Cornerstone also submitted a sworn affidavit by the operational manager of Classic Insurance Agency (Classic), Jessica Murillo, attesting that Mr. Garay-Lara had also been issued a prior Cornerstone insurance policy, in 2008, in which he also selected to reject UM coverage. Also (apparently, in response to Mr. Garay-Lara’s assertions that he is a Spanish-speaking Hispanic, and because of that fact, he does not speak, write, or read English fluently and did not fully understand the policy or what he was signing), Ms. Murillo’s affidavit attests that all agents and employees of Classic are bilingual, being fluent in both Spanish and English. She additionally attested that it is the policy of Classic to have all agents and employees speak to their clients in the language in which the client is most fluent. She further attested that it is Classic’s policy to discuss coverage with their clients prior to the client completing an insurance application; the agent, based on the client’s verbal selection, would then fill out the application and obtain the appropriate signatures from the client. She attested that Mr. Garay-Lara’s prior policy had lapsed for nonpayment, and when he came into the office to complete a restart application, Classic proceeded according to those long-standing policies. She further attested that Mr. Garay-Lara, again, declined UM coverage, and the application was completed and signed accordingly.

^Cornerstone also submitted into evidence Jessica Murillo’s deposition, which was consistent with the attestations made in the aforementioned affidavit. In addition, Ms. Murillo testified in her deposition [425]*425that the company is a “Hispanic” establishment and that 90 percent of their clientele are Hispanic and speak Spanish, so the agents and employees at Classic are speaking Spanish on a daily basis. She reiterated that it is standard protocol that all agents explain the policies and coverage available, including UM coverage in Spanish; they read the actual policies to their Hispanic clients in Spanish, and then fill out the applications with their clients’ verbal responses. (The deposition entered into evidence contains the discussion, with Spanish translation provided, that is customarily had with clients explaining the different types of coverage available, including UM coverage and the options for selection available to the clients, including the costs associated with the clients’ choices.) The deposition testimony also confirmed that once a client verbally makes his selections, the form is printed out, noting those selections, and presented to the client to initial according to his selections. In Mr, Garay-Lara’s case, once coverage was discussed and he verbally made his selection to reject UM coverage, the application form was printed out, noting the date (December 9, 2010) and “NA” for the UM coverage selections, with a blank for his initials, and another blank for his signature. The actual application submitted into evidence is consistent with the deposition testimony, reflecting Mr. Garay-Lara’s initials on the line rejecting UM coverage and his signature next to the printed date.3

In opposition to the motion for summary judgment, the plaintiffs submitted the sworn affidavit of Mr. Garay-Lara. In that affidavit, he attested that he is of Hispanic descent, that his first language is Spanish, and that he does not speak, read, or write English fluently. He also stated that all the documents presented to him for signing by the agent at the time he obtained his policy with Cornerstone were written in the English | ¿language. Additionally, he attested that he could not fully read or fully understand all the documents presented to him, and that he did not fully understand that he was waiving or rejecting UM coverage. Further, he attested that he does not fully understand the function of UM coverage, and that the detail of the documents he was signing were not explained to him in either Spanish or English, and that he did not fully understand the documents he was signing or the nature of those documents. He stated that he did not elect where to initial and/or sign the documents, but was directed by the agent where to do so. Notably, however, he did not deny the attestations made by the affidavit or the deposition testimony of Ms. Murillo to the effect that all communications with the agent at the time that he went to obtain the restart of his policy were in Spanish and that all agents read the actual policies to Hispanic clients in Spanish. Nor did he explain the reasons why he did not understand the nature or the contents of the documents he initialed and allowed to be signed.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
145 So. 3d 423, 2013 La.App. 1 Cir. 2016, 2014 WL 1757582, 2014 La. App. LEXIS 1147, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/garay-lara-v-cornerstone-national-insurance-co-lactapp-2014.