Hernandez v. United Fire Insurance

79 F.R.D. 419, 26 Fed. R. Serv. 2d 42, 1978 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 16459
CourtDistrict Court, N.D. Illinois
DecidedJuly 20, 1978
DocketNo. 76 C 2638
StatusPublished
Cited by31 cases

This text of 79 F.R.D. 419 (Hernandez v. United Fire Insurance) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, N.D. Illinois primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Hernandez v. United Fire Insurance, 79 F.R.D. 419, 26 Fed. R. Serv. 2d 42, 1978 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 16459 (N.D. Ill. 1978).

Opinion

ORDER

BUA, District Judge.

This is a class action alleging discriminatory and deceptive practices in the sale of credit property insurance. The second amended complaint consists of two counts, each naming as defendants United Fire Insurance Company (United) and Aronson Furniture Company (Aronson).

United is engaged in the business of credit property insurance. Its method of operation, at least in part, is to enter into agreements with retailers of various merchandise who in turn sell the insurance to individuals in connection with installment sales contracts.1 Count I, brought under 42 U.S.C. §§ 1981 and 1982, charges that United,, in its arrangements with various retailers in Illinois, knowingly discriminated against Blacks and Hispanics.2 Specifically, it is [424]*424alleged that during the period from April 1, 1971, to August 1,1974, United sold “single interest”3 credit property insurance at the rate of $1.50 per $100 of insured value per year through retailers having a large majority of Caucasian customers, and yet, without justification in terms of increased risks or significant additional benefits to purchasers, sold only “dual interest” insurance at a $4.00 per $100 rate through retailers having a large majority of Black or Hispanic customers. Defendant Aronson allegedly participated in this scheme as a retailer through which United sold only the more expensive dual-interest insurance. The named plaintiffs are Robert Hernandez (Hispanic) and William Ashford (Black). Hernandez and Ashford made credit purchases from Aronson on May 9, 1973, and February 2, 1974, respectively, under installment contracts which included a purchase of United dual-interest credit property insurance. They seek to represent the class of “all purchasers of United Fire Insurance Company dual-interest credit property insurance through Aronson Furniture Company at the rate of $4.00 per $100 of insured value per annum.”

Count II is a pendant state claim based on the Illinois Consumer Fraud and Deceptive Business Practices Act. Ill.Rev.Stat. ch. I21V2 § 261 et seq. It alleges that during the same April, 1971, to August, 1974, period defendants sold United credit property insurance to Aronson customers in amounts based on the total of payments due on installment contracts (a figure which included taxes, finance charges, and other items) rather than on the cash price of the merchandise, despite the fact that United’s liability was in any case limited to the cash value of the property at the time of damage or loss. Plaintiffs contend that this constituted a deceptive business practice under Ill.Rev.Stat. ch. I2IV2 § 262.4 On this count, named plaintiff Hernandez seeks to represent the class of “all persons who purchased credit property insurance from United through Aronson from April 1, 1971, to August 1, 1974, pursuant to retail installment contracts terminating on or after July 19, 1973, in which the total of payments owing on the contract was greater than the cash price of the property insured.”

Shortly after filing their second amended complaint, plaintiffs made an amended motion for certification of the proposed class on each count. These motions are now before the court for decision. Some months later, the named plaintiffs, through their attorneys, entered into a “stipulation” agreement with Aronson. This stipulation provided that both counts would be dismissed with prejudice as to the named plaintiffs against Aronson, and that, “to satisfy the claims of certain Aronson customers . . . ” as embodied in Count II, Aronson would pay $7,500 to be collected, held, and distributed in a manner outlined in some detail. In an order dated March 2, 1978, the court, on plaintiffs’ motion, adopted the terms of the stipulation. In the wake of these events United has moved to dismiss or for summary judgment on both counts. Briefly, its argument on Count I is that plaintiffs have effectively admitted its non-liability in dismissing Aronson. On Count II United argues that the stipulation amounted to a release, of which it, as an alleged joint-tortfeasor with Aronson, may avail itself. These motions as well are before the court.

A. Count I.

1. The Class Certification Motion

In order to be certified under Rule 23, a class action must satisfy all the re[425]*425quirements of Rule 23(a) and qualify under at least one of the three subdivisions of Rule 23(b). The burden of proof as to the satisfaction of these requirements rests with the plaintiffs. Valentino v. Howlett, 528 F.2d 975 (7th Cir. 1976).

Rule 23(a)(1) requires that “the class is so numerous that joinder of all members is impracticable.” It is undisputed here that a class exists and consists of at least 13,000 members. The Rule 23(a)(1) requirement of numerosity is therefore satisfied.

Rule 23(a)(2) requires that “there are questions of law or fact common to the class.” Clearly, each class member’s claim shares the questions whether the defendants did sell different forms of insurance at unjustly disparate prices and whether, if they did, this conduct violated the rights of class members protected under 42 U.S.C. § 1981 and/or § 1982. Commonality as required by Rule 23(a)(2) is then present.

Rule 23(a)(3) requires that “the claims or defenses of the representative parties are typical of the claims or defenses of the class.” It is doubtful that subdivision (a)(3) imposes any real limitation on class actions beyond those contained in subdivisions (a)(2) and (a)(4). 7 Wright and Miller § 1764; 3B Moore’s Federal Practice § 23.06-2. In any case, the claims of Ash-ford and Hernandez cannot but be “typical” of the class claims for they are, except as to the amount of damages claimed, identical to those of other class members. Clearly, differences in the amount of damages sought do not destroy typicality. Rodriguez v. Swank, 318 F.Supp. 298, 294 (N.D.Ill.1970) aff’d without opinion, 403 U.S. 901, 91 S.Ct. 2202, 29 L.Ed.2d 677 (1971).

Rule 23(a)(4) requires a finding that “the representative parties will fairly and adequately protect the interests of the class.” While a great variety of specific formulations have been offered, it is clear that adequate representation consists of two general elements: 1) it must appear that the representative parties, through their attorneys, will vigorously prosecute the class claims, and 2) there must be an absence of conflict or antagonism between the interests of the named plaintiffs (in the subject matter of the litigation) and those of other members of the proposed class. See, e. g., Muth v. Dechert, Price and Rhoades, 70 F.R.D. 602, 604-05 (E.D.Pa. 1976).

Regarding the first of these two elements, United argues that the named plaintiffs are inadequate class representatives because of their lack of personal interest in this ease and because of their unfamiliarity with its alleged factual basis.

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Bluebook (online)
79 F.R.D. 419, 26 Fed. R. Serv. 2d 42, 1978 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 16459, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/hernandez-v-united-fire-insurance-ilnd-1978.