In re Great Southern Life Insurance Co. Sales Practices Litigation

192 F.R.D. 212, 2000 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 3117
CourtDistrict Court, N.D. Texas
DecidedMarch 14, 2000
DocketMDL No. 1214; Nos. 3-98-CV-1249-X, 3-98-CV-1617-X to 3-98-CV-1619-X
StatusPublished
Cited by13 cases

This text of 192 F.R.D. 212 (In re Great Southern Life Insurance Co. Sales Practices Litigation) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, N.D. Texas primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
In re Great Southern Life Insurance Co. Sales Practices Litigation, 192 F.R.D. 212, 2000 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 3117 (N.D. Tex. 2000).

Opinion

MEMORANDUM OPINION AND ORDER

KENDALL, District Judge.

Before the Court are Plaintiffs’ Motion for Class Certification, filed March 17, 1999, Defendant’s Response filed on May 3, 1999, Plaintiffs’ Reply filed June 11, 1999, Defendant’s Surreply filed on July 12, 1999 and Plaintiffs’ Reply to Surreply filed on July 19, 1999. Pursuant to Fed.R.Civ.P. 23 and Local Rule 23.2, Plaintiffs seek to certify a class consisting of:

All persons or entities who have or had at the time of termination an ownership interest in excess interest whole life and/or universal life insurance policies (the “Policies”) issued by Great Southern from and after January 1, 1982 through December 31, 1997 (the “Class Period”). Excluded from the class are the defendants, their officers, directors and controlling persons.

For the reasons set forth below, Plaintiffs’ Motion for Class Certification is hereby GRANTED and the class defined above is CERTIFIED.

BACKGROUND

From 1982 to 1997, Great Southern Life Insurance Company marketed and sold so-called “vanishing premium” policies on a nationwide basis. These policies, both whole life and universal life, are complex interest sensitive devices. The performance of these policies depend, in large part, on a intricate number of variables. For example, changing interest, mortality, sales, and actuarial rates that each affect policy performance. Basically, the consumer paid premiums are first applied to the cost of insurance, commissions, sales, fees and other miscellaneous charges. The remaining funds accrue as the policy’s cash value and are invested in various financial instruments and/or funds, theoretically generating an investment return which, if large enough, eventually makes the premium payments for the consumer. If all goes as planned, these policies should provide the consumer with what amounts to “free” insurance and an increasing investment vehicle.

The formulas for determining interest rates and actual insurance costs are contained in Great Southern’s own insurance contracts.1 During the Class period, Great Southern issued a number of different policies in different states, however the essential contract provisions at issue remained virtually unchanged.2

To sell these policies, Great Southern developed marketing materials and computer generated policy illustrations which were passed on to potential customers. Apparently, the computer generated documentation was Great Southern’s primary marketing tool.3 These materials were generated from the home office in Dallas. Great Southern’s officers acknowledge that the policy illustrations were often based on inflated and not realistic performance models.4 Plaintiffs’ also allege that the insurance agents affiliated with Great Southern were kept in the dark as to the true actuarial tables, rates of return and other formulas used to determine Policy values and therefore could not properly advise potential purchasers.5 Plaintiffs rely on these omissions as the foundation of their case on the merits as well as the case for class certification.

STANDARD OF REVIEW

In order for the proposed class to be certified, Plaintiffs must satisfy the four requirements in Fed.R.Civ.P. 23(a) and one of the requirements of Fed.R.Civ.P. 23(b). Shivangi v. Dean Witter Reynolds, Inc., 825 F.2d [215]*215885, 891 (5th Cir.1987). The plaintiff bears the burden of showing that these prerequisites are met. See General Tel. Co. v. Falcon, 457 U.S. 147, 161, 102 S.Ct. 2364, 72 L.Ed.2d 740 (1982). The requirements of Rule 23(a) are:

(1) the class must be so numerous that joinder of all members is impracticable;

(2) there must be questions of law or fact common to the class;

(3) the claims or defenses of the representative parties must be typical of the class; and

(4) the representative parties must fairly and adequately protect the interests of the class.

FED.R.Crv.P. 23. Additionally, a plaintiff seeking class certification must show that at least one element of Rule 23(b) is satisfied. Rule 23(b) requires that Plaintiffs demonstrate that “questions of law or fact common to all members of the class predominate over any questions affecting only individual members,” and that a class action is superior to other methods for adjudicating the controversy. Fed.R.Civ.P. 23(b). Failure to establish any one of these elements requires denial of certification. Valentino v. Howlett, 528 F.2d 975, 978 (7th Cir.1976).

Although the Supreme Court holds that consumer protection issues are largely suited for class treatment, Amchem Prods. v. Windsor, 521 U.S. 591, 624, 117 S.Ct. 2231, 138 L.Ed.2d 689 (1997), the trial court has broad discretion in ruling on a class certification motion. Montelongo v. Meese, 803 F.2d 1341, 1351 (5th Cir.1986), cert. denied, 481 U.S. 1048, 107 S.Ct. 2179, 95 L.Ed.2d 835 (1987). On such a motion, the court may only inquire into whether the requirements of Fed.R.Civ.P. 23 have been satisfied, and may not consider whether plaintiffs have stated a cause of action or will prevail on the merits. See Eisen v. Carlisle & Jacquelin, 417 U.S. 156, 178, 94 S.Ct. 2140, 40 L.Ed.2d 732 (1974). However, a motion for class certification “generally involves considerations that are enmeshed in the factual and legal issues comprising the plaintiffs cause of action.” Coopers & Lybrand v. Livesay, 437 U.S. 463, 469, 98 S.Ct. 2454, 57 L.Ed.2d 351 (1978) (citations and internal quotation marks omitted). Although the court presumes the truth of Plaintiffs’ allegations for the purposes of this opinion, Miller v. Mackey, Int’l, Inc., 452 F.2d 424, 427-428 (5th Cir.1971) (holding that the for the purpose of class certification, the district court may not inquire into the merits or whether the plaintiff stated a cause of action), the Court’s duty to ensure compliance with Rule 23 continues after certification, and the Court may decertify the class after the initial certification if it deems it appropriate. See Fed.R.Civ.P. 23; Hervey v. City of Little Rock, 787 F.2d 1223, 1227 (8th Cir.1986).

A. Rule 23(a)

NUMEROSITY

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Bluebook (online)
192 F.R.D. 212, 2000 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 3117, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/in-re-great-southern-life-insurance-co-sales-practices-litigation-txnd-2000.