International Indemnity Co. v. Regional Employer Service, Inc.

520 S.E.2d 533, 239 Ga. App. 420, 99 Fulton County D. Rep. 2837, 1999 Ga. App. LEXIS 1292
CourtCourt of Appeals of Georgia
DecidedJuly 8, 1999
DocketA99A0665
StatusPublished
Cited by3 cases

This text of 520 S.E.2d 533 (International Indemnity Co. v. Regional Employer Service, Inc.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals of Georgia primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
International Indemnity Co. v. Regional Employer Service, Inc., 520 S.E.2d 533, 239 Ga. App. 420, 99 Fulton County D. Rep. 2837, 1999 Ga. App. LEXIS 1292 (Ga. Ct. App. 1999).

Opinions

McMurray, Presiding Judge.

Plaintiff International Indemnity Company filed this action to recover premiums allegedly due on workers’ compensation insurance policies issued to defendant Regional Employer Service, Inc. Defendant answered and counterclaimed for damages to its business caused by excessive premiums charged for workers’ compensation insurance due to incorrect data submitted by plaintiff to the licensed rating organization. On the trial of the case, a jury returned a verdict in favor of defendant and awarded, on the counterclaim, special damages of $109,000 and attorney fees of $23,006. The judgment followed the verdict, and plaintiff appeals. Held:

1. Violation of OCGA § 33-24-47 is listed among the bases for defendant’s claims in the consolidated pre-trial order. The alleged violation was a cancellation of certain workers’ compensation coverage. By motion in limine, plaintiff sought to exclude evidence of losses arising from the cancellation and at trial moved for directed verdict as to defendant’s counterclaim for wrongful cancellation. The denial of both motions is enumerated as error. However, plaintiff concedes that defendant “introduced no evidence and did not request a charge on O.C.G.A. § 33-24-47” which formed the basis of defendant’s wrongful cancellation claim, and that “there was an absence of ‘any evidence’ in support of a claim for wrongful cancellation.” While plaintiff argues that the wrongful cancellation claim should not have been submitted to the jury, it is apparent that in fact it was not. It follows that any error in the denial of these motions was harmless and does not serve as a proper basis for reversal. In order to obtain reversal on appeal, harm as well as error must be shown. Sparti v. Joslin, 230 Ga. App. 346, 350 (3) (496 SE2d 490); Walker v. GRO Assoc., 227 Ga. App. 569, 570 (2) (489 SE2d 366).

2. Plaintiff’s first enumeration of error complains of the denial of its motion in limine seeking to preclude defendant from offering or otherwise alluding to lost profits, lost income, diminished corporate reputation and diminution in value as a result of any alleged noncompliance with OCGA § 34-9-136.

A motion in limine is a pretrial method of determining the admissibility of evidence, as a party may secure a pretrial [421]*421ruling on the admissibility of evidence or a ruling prohibiting any reference to certain evidence until its admissibility can be assessed in the context of the trial as it unfolds. State v. Johnston, 249 Ga. 413 (3) (291 SE2d 543) (1982). By its very nature, the grant of a motion in limine excluding evidence suggests that there is no circumstance under which the evidence under scrutiny is likely to be admissible at trial. See Green, Georgia Law of Evidence, p. 26, § 12, n. 5. In light of that absolute, the grant of a motion in limine excluding evidence is a judicial power which must be exercised with great care.

Andrews v. Wilbanks, 265 Ga. 555, 556 (458 SE2d 817). See also Dept. of Transp. v. Wallace Enterprises, 234 Ga. App. 1, 4 (6) (505 SE2d 549).

In this particular instance, the transcript does not clearly indicate whether the trial court ruled on the portion of plaintiff’s motion in limine now at issue. Nonetheless, we will assume for purposes of this opinion that the contested portion of the motion in limine was denied as plaintiff maintains.

OCGA § 34-9-136 requires a workers’ compensation insurance provider to submit statistical data to the employer which it concerns for verification prior to sending the data to a licensed rating organization which will use the data in determining the employer’s experience modification factor, an expression of risk factors which affects premium rates. In support of the first enumeration of error, plaintiff argues at length that OCGA § 34-9-136 does not create a private cause of action. Defendant responds that violation of the statute provided it with a negligence per se cause of action against plaintiff. However, this issue, concerning the existence and nature of any cause of action arising from a violation of the statute, is not determinative of the question of the admissibility of the evidence plaintiff sought to exclude.

As applied with respect to the circumstances of the case sub judice, we find that regardless of whether a violation of OCGA § 34-9-136 may serve as the proper foundation of a counterclaim asserted by defendant, evidence showing the statutory violation does not lack probative value since it is a circumstance that may be considered by the jury along with other facts and circumstances with respect to issues of mitigation of damages and set-off in connection with plaintiff’s claim for amounts owed for unpaid premiums. Allen v. Lefkoff, Duncan, Grimes &c., P.C., 265 Ga. 374, 377 (2) (c) (453 SE2d 719); Unified Sues. v. Home Ins. Co., 218 Ga. App. 85, 87, n. 1 (460 SE2d 545). The evidence having relevance to the issues on trial with respect to plaintiff’s claim, the denial of the motion in limine was not [422]*422error. American Petroleum Products v. Mom & Pop Stores, 231 Ga. App. 1, 7 (3) (497 SE2d 616).

3. Plaintiff enumerates as error the trial court’s refusal to give its requested charge that: “The measure of damages for an allegedly excess and incorrect premium is the difference between that which was paid and the correct amount due as shown by the evidence.” This request to charge was supported by citation of Dixie Constr. Products v. Southeastern Council on Compensation Ins., 183 Ga. App. 101 (357 SE2d 831) and Walker v. Bituminous Cas. Corp., 74 Ga. App. 517 (40 SE2d 228). Via this request plaintiff sought to provide a measure of damages for use with respect to defendant’s counterclaim for loss of business. However, defendant’s counterclaim and the evidence introduced in support thereof authorized a broader measure of damages, the reduction in value of defendant’s business. Molly Pitcher Canning Co. v. Central of Ga. R. Co., 149 Ga. App. 5, 15 (8) (253 SE2d 392). The charge requested by plaintiff cannot be said to have been adjusted to the evidence presented at trial; thus, there was no error in the refusal of this requested instruction. Roberts v. Chapman, 228 Ga. App. 365, 367 (2) (492 SE2d 244); Smith v. Curtis, 226 Ga. App. 470, 471 (2) (486 SE2d 699).

4. In support of two enumerations of error complaining of the denial of motions for directed verdict, plaintiff argues that defendant failed to prove damages with respect to its counterclaim for loss of business. It is uncontroverted that the jury was correctly charged that

[t]he measure of damages for that claim is the difference between the fair market value of the damaged property or the business immediately before the injury and the fair market value that remains when the business is stopped, together with any losses incurred in the interim.

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International Indemnity Co. v. Regional Employer Service, Inc.
520 S.E.2d 533 (Court of Appeals of Georgia, 1999)

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Bluebook (online)
520 S.E.2d 533, 239 Ga. App. 420, 99 Fulton County D. Rep. 2837, 1999 Ga. App. LEXIS 1292, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/international-indemnity-co-v-regional-employer-service-inc-gactapp-1999.