Jones v. American General Life & Accident Insurance

213 F.R.D. 689, 2002 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 26368, 2002 WL 32068991
CourtDistrict Court, S.D. Georgia
DecidedDecember 13, 2002
DocketNo. CV101-003
StatusPublished
Cited by13 cases

This text of 213 F.R.D. 689 (Jones v. American General Life & Accident Insurance) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, S.D. Georgia primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Jones v. American General Life & Accident Insurance, 213 F.R.D. 689, 2002 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 26368, 2002 WL 32068991 (S.D. Ga. 2002).

Opinion

ORDER

MOORE, District Judge.

Before the Court is Plaintiffs’ Renewed Motion for Class Certification. (Doc. 161). After careful consideration, the Court finds that Plaintiffs’ motion must be GRANTED IN PART and DENIED IN PART.

BACKGROUND

Plaintiffs in this action are a group of individuals formerly employed by Independent Life and Accident Insurance Company (“Independent Life”). Like most insurance companies, Independent Life provided life insurance to its employees and retirees through a group term life insurance policy that Independent Life issued to itself. The life insurance policy was revised from time to time over the years. One such revision took place in 1992 when the group term policy was split into two separate policies — one for retirees and one for active employees. Under the new retiree policy, retiree life insurance coverage for Independent Life employees hired after January 1, 1993 was terminated. For all other employees retiring after December 3,1994, the amount of post retirement coverage was incrementally decreased from one times compensation (at retirement) to a flat $10,000 over the ensuing 10 years. Those employees who had retired prior to 1992 retained the level of coverage in effect for them in 1992 under the new policy. A series of booklets was issued by Independent Life over the years to explain the life insurance coverage to its employees. Defendants claim that the booklets stated that the policies could be terminated. (Def.App. Tabs 3-14, 19, pp. AGL 386, AGL 394).

In 1996, Independent Life merged with Defendant, Defendant being the surviving corporation assuming all the liabilities and obligations of Independent Life under the merger agreement. Following the merger, the Independent Life post retirement life insurance was replaced by a policy issued by U.S. Life to American General Corporation, Defendant’s parent company. New booklets were issued to retirees that described the terms of the new policy. Defendants claim these booklets also stated that Defendant reserved the right to amend or terminate the policy. (Def.App. Tab. 23-25).

Defendant assigned responsibility for administering the Independent Life retiree life insurance plan to Towers Perrin, an international benefits consulting firm. During 1997 and 1998, in response to individual inquiries from retirees, Towers Perrin sent 197 letters confirming Independent Life retirees’ life insurance amounts and indicating that the amounts would stay in effect for the retiree’s lifetime. Defendant claims these letters referred to lifetime benefits by mistake and that correction letters were later sent confirming the amount of coverage and informing the retirees that their coverage could be changed or terminated. (Def.App. Tab 26 ¶ 6 & 7).

Defendant subsequently terminated the life insurance for retirees effective January 1, 2001. Retirees were notified by letter dated September 30, 2000 and were given the option to convert to individual coverage by paying the premiums themselves. Following receipt of the letter, Plaintiff Jones initially contested the discontinuation of his life insurance through the claim procedure provided under the life insurance plan. When his claim was denied, he filed suit rather than pursuing the plan’s appeal procedures. None of the other named Plaintiffs have exhausted the claim procedures under the life insurance plan.

Plaintiff Jones’s Complaint was filed in the Superior Court of Richmond County, Georgia on December 29, 2000. Plaintiff Jones filed suit on behalf of himself and a class, to enjoin cancellation of the policy and to recover the cost of purchasing permanent, lifetime coverage in the amount covered by the cancelled policies. He also sought bad faith penalties, costs, and attorney’s fees.

Defendant removed the case to federal court on January 9, 2001. The two bases for [692]*692removal were federal question jurisdiction, given the applicability of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (“ERISA”), and diversity of citizenship. Plaintiff did not challenge removal.

On May 24, 2001, Defendant filed its first motion to dismiss. In that motion, Defendant sought dismissal of Plaintiff Jones’s state law claims and asked the Court to strike his request for a jury trial. The Court granted Defendant’s motion in an order dated July 27, 2001.

Plaintiff Jones made his first motion for class certification on April 9, 2001. Defendant filed its first response on December 18, 2001. Plaintiff then filed its first reply on January 14, 2002. Defendant claimed in its response that Plaintiff Jones’s Complaint did not support his motion for class certification. As a result, Plaintiff Jones sought leave of the Court to amend his complaint “to explicitly include claims and remedies referenced in his motion for class certification and elsewhere in discovery.” (Pl. Memo, in Support of Motion for Leave at p. 2).

Plaintiff Jones’s motion was granted by Magistrate Judge W. Leon Barfield and discovery was consequently reopened in an order dated March 19, 2002.1 As a result of Judge Barfield’s order, this Court, in an order dated March 20, 2002, directed the Clerk to remove Plaintiff Jones’s motion for class certification and his motion for a hearing from the pending motions report, reasoning that “Plaintiffs original motion for class certification and Defendant’s response may not accurately reflect the parties’ positions on the issue.” Plaintiff Jones was ordered to file a renewed motion if he still wanted to pursue class certification.

On March 26, 2002, Plaintiff Jones, and the three new named Plaintiffs filed an Amended Complaint alleging that they are entitled to bring an action on behalf of themselves and a class defined as:

All persons who were formerly employed by Independent Life and Accident Insurance Company, the Herald Life Insurance Company, and the Independent Fire Insurance Company who were covered prior to 1992 by employee benefit plans that provided life insurance coverage upon retirement with no charge to the retiree for the insurance, who have retired and whose coverage is being terminated.

(Amended Complaint at f 36). Plaintiffs claim that Defendant is liable to the class because Independent Life agreed to provide permanent life insurance benefits at no cost to Plaintiffs when they retired. Plaintiffs allege that Defendant breached that agreement when it cancelled Plaintiffs life insurance coverage. Plaintiffs also assert that Defendant is estopped from cancelling Plaintiffs’ coverage because Defendant misrepresented to Plaintiffs their entitlement to benefits and Plaintiffs acted in reliance on those misrepresentations. Finally, Plaintiffs argue that Defendant breached its fiduciary duty to Plaintiffs by either cancelling their insurance or by failing to accurately communicate Plaintiffs’ benefits to them.

Defendant filed a second motion to dismiss in this case on April 24, 2002. Defendant’s motion was granted in part and denied in part in on July 3, 2002 in an order of this Court. Plaintiffs’ breach of fiduciary claim was dismissed, while their breach of contract and promissory estoppel claims were not.

On May 20, 2002, Plaintiffs filed their Renewed Motion for Class Certification, the motion presently before the Court. On August 14, 2002, after discovery in this case had closed, Judge Barfield issued an order resetting the deadline for motions for class certification to October 15, 2002. On October 30, 2002 Defendant filed its response to Plaintiffs’ renewed motion.

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213 F.R.D. 689, 2002 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 26368, 2002 WL 32068991, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/jones-v-american-general-life-accident-insurance-gasd-2002.