In re Jackson National Life Insurance Co. Premium Litigation

183 F.R.D. 217, 1998 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 17170, 1998 WL 772185
CourtDistrict Court, W.D. Michigan
DecidedOctober 22, 1998
DocketNo. 5:96-MD-1122, MDL No. 1122
StatusPublished
Cited by37 cases

This text of 183 F.R.D. 217 (In re Jackson National Life Insurance Co. Premium Litigation) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, W.D. Michigan primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
In re Jackson National Life Insurance Co. Premium Litigation, 183 F.R.D. 217, 1998 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 17170, 1998 WL 772185 (W.D. Mich. 1998).

Opinion

[218]*218OPINION AND ORDER ON PLAINTIFFS’ MOTION FOR CLASS CERTIFICATION

McKEAGUE, District Judge.

Plaintiffs in this multidistriet ease are purchasers of or persons beneficially interested in life insurance policies underwritten and sold by defendant Jackson National Life Insurance Company (“Jackson National”). Plaintiffs allege they suffered loss due to Jackson National’s misrepresentations. The consolidated amended complaint expressly asserts the claims of individual plaintiffs from Texas, Ohio, Arizona, Oklahoma, California and Illinois.1 Named de[219]*219fendants are Jackson National; its wholly-owned subsidiary, Jackson National Life Insurance Company of Michigan; and then-holding company, Brooke Life Insurance Company. Michigan is the principal place of business for all three defendants, collectively referred to herein as “Jackson National.” Plaintiffs seek compensatory and injunctive relief, asserting claims for fraud, breach of fiduciary duty, negligent misrepresentation, negligent supervision of sales agents, breach of contract, unjust enrichment, and violation of Michigan’s Pricing and Advertising Act. Now before the Court is plaintiffs’ motion for class certification.

I. PLAINTIFFS’ CLAIMS

The individual plaintiffs named in the consolidated complaint purport to proceed on their own behalf and on behalf of a class of similarly situated persons.

Plaintiffs allege they were induced to purchase permanent life insurance policies with substantial death benefits and accumulated cash values by false, incomplete and misleading sales representations and information disseminated by Jackson National. More specifically, they allege they paid large lump sum premiums or large fixed premiums for a number of years in reliance upon representations that future premiums would “vanish” as interest and other values accumulated and became sufficient to pay remaining premiums. In the 1990s, however, when interest rates declined and the interest earned on those large payments failed to produce sufficient income to pay remaining premiums, plaintiffs were advised that their premiums had not vanished as anticipated and that additional out-of-pocket premium payments were required to maintain the policies. Consequently, plaintiffs have been faced with the choice of either incurring the unexpected expense of continuing premium payments or surrendering the policies at substantial loss. They pray for compensatory and punitive or exemplary damages, injunctive relief enjoining Jackson National’s deceptive practices and requiring Jackson National to pay for the costs of providing life insurance conforming to the sales representations, and an order imposing a constructive trust upon or requiring disgorgement of Jackson National’s ill-gotten gains.

Plaintiffs ask the Court to certify a class consisting of “all persons who purchased whole life, or other types of permanent life insurance policies solicited, underwritten and sold by Jackson National, between January 1,1981 and December 31,1995, upon Jackson National’s uniform failure to disclose and to properly represent material facts in its sales presentations and policy illustrations relating to the ‘vanishing premium’ sales scheme.” Consolidated Amended Complaint, pp. 5-6. This class is estimated to consist of approximately 300,000 purchasers in the 49 continental states. Plaintiffs seek certification of this class with respect to their claims for fraud, negligent supervision of sales agents, breach of contract, unjust enrichment and violation of Michigan’s Pricing and Advertising Act.2 They seek class certification under Fed. R.Civ.P. 23(b)(2) and (3).

II. RULE 23 STANDARDS

The Court has broad discretion in deciding whether to certify a class, but must conduct a “rigorous analysis” to ensure the prerequisites of Rule 23 are met. In re American Medical Systems, Inc., 75 F.3d 1069, 1078-79 (6th Cir.1996). “Maintainability may be determined by the Court on the basis of the pleadings, if sufficient facts are set forth, but ordinarily the determination should be predicated on more information than the pleadings will provide.” Id., at 1079, quoting Weathers v. Peters Realty Corp., 499 F.2d 1197, 1200 (6th Cir.1974). See also Castano v. American Tobacco Co., 84 F.3d 734, 744 (5th Cir.1996) (going beyond pleadings may be necessary to enable understanding of precise nature of claims in context of certification issues); Chin v. Chrysler Corp., 182 F.R.D. 448 (D.N.J.) (accord). The party seeking class certification bears the [220]*220burden of proof. American Medical Systems, 75 F.3d at 1079.

Subsection (a) of Rule 23 sets forth four threshold requirements that must all be met before a class can be certified:

One or more members of a class may sue or be sued as representative parties on behalf of all only if (1) the class is so numerous that joinder of all members is impracticable, (2) there are questions of law or fact common to the class, (3) the claims or defenses of the representative parties are typical of the claims or defenses of the class, and (4) the representative parties will fairly and adequately protect the interests of the class.

If each of these prerequisites is satisfied, the movant must also show that the action falls within one of the categories listed in Rule 23(b), of which subsections (2) and (3) are here at issue:

(2) the party opposing the class has acted or refused to act on grounds generally applicable to the class, thereby making appropriate final injunctive relief or corresponding declaratory relief with respect to the class as a whole; or
(3) the court finds that the questions of law or fact common to the members of the class predominate over any questions affecting only individual members, and that a class action is superior to other available methods for the fair and efficient adjudication of the controversy. ...

The Court now considers these requirements in order.

A. Rule 23(a)

Although Jackson National vigorously opposes the motion for class certification, it has not contested plaintiffs’ showing that the threshold prerequisites of Rule 23(a) are satisfied. Indeed, there is no question; the numerosity, commonality, typicality and representational adequacy requirements of Rule 23(a) are all clearly met.

B. Rule 23(b)(2)

Plaintiffs contend class certification is appropriate under Rule 23(b)(2) because the consolidated complaint includes a prayer for injunctive relief applicable to the entire class. See Fuller v. Fruehauf Trailer Corp., 168 F.R.D. 588, 602 (E.D.Mich.1996) (Rule 23(b)(2) satisfied if opposing party’s conduct is generally applicable to the class and final injunctive relief is requested for the class). Jackson National argues the requested in-junctive relief is merely incidental to plaintiffs’ predominant objective, monetary relief.

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Bluebook (online)
183 F.R.D. 217, 1998 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 17170, 1998 WL 772185, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/in-re-jackson-national-life-insurance-co-premium-litigation-miwd-1998.