Johnson ex rel. Estate of Johnson v. Doodson Insurance Brokerage of Texas, LLC

1 F. Supp. 3d 776, 2014 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 25822, 2014 WL 806414
CourtDistrict Court, E.D. Michigan
DecidedFebruary 28, 2014
DocketCase No. 13-10198
StatusPublished
Cited by3 cases

This text of 1 F. Supp. 3d 776 (Johnson ex rel. Estate of Johnson v. Doodson Insurance Brokerage of Texas, LLC) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, E.D. Michigan primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Johnson ex rel. Estate of Johnson v. Doodson Insurance Brokerage of Texas, LLC, 1 F. Supp. 3d 776, 2014 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 25822, 2014 WL 806414 (E.D. Mich. 2014).

Opinion

OPINION AND ORDER GRANTING DEFENDANT’S MOTION TO DISMISS

SEAN F. COX, District Judge.

This is a negligence/breach of contract case. Plaintiff Kimberly Johnson, on behalf of the estate of her deceased husband, Douglas Johnson (“Plaintiff’), alleges that Doodson Insurance Brokerage of Texas, LLC d/b/a CSI Insurance Group (“Defendant” or “CSI”) negligently failed to procure insurance for National Pastime Sports, LLC (“NPS”), and that Douglas Johnson’s injuries caused by NPS’s equipment were, therefore, not covered by any policy of liability insurance. Plaintiff has also alleged a breach of contract claim on the same grounds.

This case is before the Court on Defendant’s Motion to Dismiss Pursuant to Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 12(b)(6) (Doc. # 14). The motion has been fully briefed [780]*780by the parties. On February 20, 2014, this Court heard oral argument on the motion. For the reasons set forth below, the Court shall GRANT Defendant’s motion and DISMISS Plaintiffs Amended Complaint with prejudice.

BACKGROUND

In January 2010, the Cleveland Indians Baseball Company (“Cleveland Indians”) hired National Pastime Sports, LLC (“NPS”), a Michigan corporation, to produce several Kids Fun Day events at Cleveland Indians games in Cleveland, Ohio. (Amd. Compl. at ¶ 7; see also Amd. Compl. Ex. A). The Kids Fun Day events were to showcase many attractions, including an inflatable bounce house and inflatable slide. (Amd. Compl. at ¶ 9). The production agreement between the Cleveland Indians and NPS required NPS to obtain $5 million in comprehensive general liability insurance coverage. (Amd. Compl. at ¶ 11).

In March 2010, NPS submitted an Application for Insurance (Amd. Compl. at Ex. B) to Defendant CSI. On that Application for Insurance, NPS stated that the event(s) will include inflatables and/or bounce houses. (Amd. Compl. at Ex. B p. 1).

CSI arranged for NPS to be insured through New Hampshire Insurance Company (“NHIC”). (Amd. Compl. at ¶ lb-16). The insurance policy between insurer NHIC and insured NPS apparently “excluded injuries resulting from inflatables, temporary structures, and/or amusement devices.” (Amd. Compl. at ¶ 19). Plaintiff claims that CSI admits that it failed to procure insurance covering inflatable structures, despite NPS’s indication that inflatables would be used at the Kids Fun Day events. (Amd. Compl. at ¶ Ex D., emails dated 6/22/10).

On June 12, 2010, Plaintiff Kimberly Johnson’s husband, Douglas Johnson, attended a Cleveland Indians baseball game at Progressive Field in Cleveland, Ohio. (Amd. Compl. at ¶ 17). Mr. Johnson was standing near the Kids Fun Day area and observing a Cleveland Indians’ wall of fame display when one of NPS’s inflatable slides fell over onto Mr. Johnson and trapped him beneath it. (Amd. Compl. at ¶ 20-21). Mr. Johnson was severely injured in the incident and eventually died of his injuries. (Amd. Compl. at ¶ 22).

Much litigation followed. On December 23, 2010, Plaintiff filed suit against NPS and others in state court in Cleveland, Ohio. (Amd. Compl. at ¶ 28). That case resulted in a $3.5 million default judgment against NPS in Plaintiffs favor. As of the filing of Plaintiffs Amended Complaint, Plaintiff has received no payments from NPS and now believes that NPS is unable to satisfy the judgment against it. (Amd. Compl. at ¶ 34-36).

On April 1, 2011, NPS filed a declaratory action with this Court against CSI and NHIC, seeking a declaration that NHIC had a duty to defend and indemnify NPS in the Ohio state court action, and also alleging a claim of negligent procurement of insurance against CSI. (NPS v. CSI, Case No. 11-11378, Doc. #1). Many crossclaims and counterclaims were filed, and the Cleveland Indians joined the case against CSI as a fourth-party plaintiff (Case No. 11-11378, Doc. # 25).

It appears that many, if not all, of the parties involved filed cross-motions for summary judgment. This Court granted Defendant CSI’s motion for summary judgment as to the Cleveland Indian’s fourth party complaint. (Case No. 11-11378, Doc. # 49; National Pastime Sports LLC, et al. v. CSI Insurance Group, et. al., 830 F.Supp.2d 348 (E.D.Mich.2011)). The Court held that the Cleveland Indians did not have a negligence cause of action against CSI for its [781]*781negligent procurement of insurance because CSI did not owe a common law duty to the Cleveland Indians, and did not otherwise owe a duty to Cleveland Indians that was “separate and distinct” from their contractual duties to NPS. National Pastime, 830 F.Supp.2d at 353-54.

On August 23, 2013, the Sixth Circuit reversed this Court’s grant of summary judgment to CSI, holding that “a contracting party owes a separate and distinct common law duty of care to all those whom the party knew or reasonably should have foreseen would be injured by the party’s negligent acts or omissions.” Cleveland Indians Baseball Co. v. N.H. Ins. Co., et. al., 727 F.3d 633, 638 (6th Cir.2013).

By the time the Sixth Circuit issued its opinion in that case, Plaintiff Kimberly Johnson had already filed suit against CSI in this Court, alleging both negligence and breach of contract causes of action (Doc. #1, filed 1/17/13). Plaintiff filed an Amended Complaint on March 26, 2013. (Doc. # 12). Thereafter, Defendant filed a Motion to Dismiss Plaintiffs Amended Complaint. (Doc. # 14). As the Sixth Circuit’s opinion in Cleveland Indians was issued while Defendant’s motion was pending, this Court invited the parties to submit supplemental briefs addressing the relevancy of that opinion to the present motion. (Doc. # 24).1

STANDARD OF DECISION

When deciding a motion to dismiss under Rule 12(b)(6) of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, the Court must construe the complaint in the light most favorable to the plaintiff and must accept all the factual allegations contained in the complaint as true. Lambert v. Hartman, 517 F.3d 433, 439 (6th Cir.2008).

In order to survive a Rule 12(b)(6) motion to dismiss, Plaintiffs complaint need contain only “enough facts to state a claim for relief that is plausible on its face.” See Bell Atl. Corp. v. Twombly, 550 U.S. 544, 570, 127 S.Ct. 1955, 167 L.Ed.2d 929 (2007). “Where a complaint pleads facts that are merely consistent with a defendant’s liability, it ‘stops short of the line between possibility and plausibility of entitlement to relief.’ ” Ashcroft v. Iqbal, 556 U.S. 662, 678, 129 S.Ct. 1937, 173 L.Ed.2d 868 (2009), citing Twombly, 550 U.S. at 557, 127 S.Ct. 1955. “Determining whether a complaint states a plausible claim for relief will ... be a context-specific task that requires the reviewing court to draw on its judicial experience and common sense.” Iqbal, 556 U.S. at 679, 129 S.Ct. 1937.

ANALYSIS

I. Count One: Negligence

Plaintiff has pleaded a claim against Defendant sounding in negligence. (Amd. Compl.

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1 F. Supp. 3d 776, 2014 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 25822, 2014 WL 806414, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/johnson-ex-rel-estate-of-johnson-v-doodson-insurance-brokerage-of-texas-mied-2014.