Klukavy v. United National Insurance

717 F. Supp. 480, 1989 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 7801
CourtDistrict Court, E.D. Michigan
DecidedJuly 13, 1989
DocketCiv. Nos. 84-5051, 85-70760
StatusPublished
Cited by1 cases

This text of 717 F. Supp. 480 (Klukavy v. United National Insurance) 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
Klukavy v. United National Insurance, 717 F. Supp. 480, 1989 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 7801 (E.D. Mich. 1989).

Opinion

MEMORANDUM OPINION AND ORDER

ANNA DIGGS TAYLOR, District Judge.

These actions arise from a dispute over entitlement to payment by United National Insurance Company of the proceeds of a fire insurance policy after the destruction by fire of a bar in Detroit, Michigan, which was known as “The Perfect Blend.” At the time of the fire, the bar was operated by John Klukavy and Theodore Fitzgerald. A purchase agreement for the sale of the business had been executed by Lafayette-Orleans, Inc. (Lafayette-Orleans), the seller, and T.R.F.J., Inc. (T.R.F.J.), the buyer: a Michigan corporation of which Klukavy & Fitzgerald were officers, directors, and sole shareholders. Following the fire, both Lafayette-Orleans, as well as Klukavy & Fitzgerald, claimed entitlement to the insurance proceeds, and each instituted an action against United National to that end.

In addition, Klukavy & Fitzgerald alleged in a second count of their complaint a claim of account against Lafayette-Orleans, premised upon a management agreement with Lafayette-Orleans pursuant to which they had operated the bar under the name, “The Perfect Blend.” Under the management agreement Lafayette-Orleans had engaged Klukavy & Fitzgerald as managers of the establishment and Klukavy & Fitzgerald were to make available $30,000 as a “loan or advance to Lafayette-Orleans, Inc. for improvements to the establishment, and the payment of current obligations.”

The two suits for the fire insurance were consolidated and United National filed a motion for interpleader. Subsequently, a stipulation and order was entered dismissing the insurer from the case following its payment of the proceeds of the policy into an interestbearing account for disbursement only upon order of the court. The remaining claims were the seller’s and the [482]*482purchaser’s cross claims against each other for the deposited funds, as well as Klukavy & Fitzgerald’s claim of account premised on the management agreement.

Lafayette-Orleans moved for summary judgment on the insurance claim, and after oral argument, this Court granted Lafayette-Orleans’ motion from the bench on January 12, 1987, followed by a written Memorandum Opinion and Order issued on February 26, 1987.

In granting summary judgment to Lafayette-Orleans on the cross-claims for the insurance proceeds, this Court held that while Klukavy & Fitzgerald claimed to be the real parties in interest with respect to the purchase agreement between their corporation, T.R.F.J., and Lafayette-Orleans, in fact they had no cause of action as owners with respect to the insurance proceeds because it was the corporation which was to have been the purchaser of the property. The Court rejected their “alter ego” argument as contrary to established theory of independent corporation existence.

The Court further held that the addition of T.R.F.J. as a party to the litigation would be futile, noting that while T.R.F.J. had the character of a contract purchaser at one time, it had no such interest at the time of the fire because an essential precondition for transfer of the business, approval of the transfer of the Class C liquor license by the Michigan Liquor Control Commission, had never occurred. Indeed, the liquor license transfer had been denied, shortly before the fire. The Court further found that T.R.F.J. had abandoned its application for transfer of the liquor license, thereby rescinding the sale contract and leaving Lafayette-Orleans, Inc., as the sole owner of the property.

Finally, the Court concluded that Kluka-vy & Fitzgerald had no cognizable claim to the insurance proceeds under the management agreement, because the management agreement was an illegal contract and had been so determined by the Michigan Liquor Control Commission. The Court also noted that Klukavy & Fitzgerald, admitted the illegality of the management agreement, as part of a settlement resolving a 1983 complaint filed by the Liquor Control Commission.

Klukavy & Fitzgerald argued that, even if the management agreement was partially tainted by illegality, they should be permitted to sever the illegal provisions and maintain an action for reimbursement of the $30,000 loan which they claim to have made, and for payment to Klukavy & Fitzgerald of the minimum wage for their many hours worked, as well as five percent of the establishment’s gross profits during their period of management.

This Court rejected that argument, finding that the illegal provision of the management agreement vitiated the entire agreement, rendering it unenforceable. See this Court’s opinion in Klukavy v. United National Insurance Company, 654 F.Supp. 622 (E.D.Mich.1987).

Fitzgerald & Klukavy appealed the Court’s ruling to the United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit, which affirmed this court’s entry of summary judgment for Lafayette-Orleans on the insurance claims, but reversed on the claim of account premised upon the $30,000 allegedly advanced or loaned under the terms of an agreement between the parties. 848 F.2d 191.

Previously, this court had held that the advances were so “intertwined” with an illegal management agreement for a liquor-serving establishment that any claim of account based upon those advances was unenforceable. Plaintiffs now claim that the $30,000 which they seek was loaned or advanced pursuant to the purchase agreement, and not the illegal management agreement.

The Sixth Circuit has reversed and remanded for trial on the claim of account for $30,000:

... to determine whether the loan was an independent transaction or one designed to provide plaintiffs with an interest in or benefit from defendant’s liquor license.

[483]*483The Sixth Circuit noted that the record before it did not disclose “the precise terms and conditions” attached to the loan, and that:

It is possible that the “improvements” and “obligations” covered by the loan were not related to the liquor license. Additionally, it is possible that the loan was not an integral basis for the parties’ decision to enter into the illegal management agreement.

Trial on this issue was held on April 11, 1989, and this memorandum constitutes the Court’s findings of fact and conclusions of law on this issue.

After careful consideration, the court finds that the “possibilities” noted by the Sixth Circuit which might legitimize the $30,000 loan were clearly demonstrated, on the record, to have been non-existent. The Court finds that the “loan”, on all credible evidence, was clearly an integral part of the illegal management agreement, and was a device to provide plaintiffs with the immediate benefit of defendant’s liquor license without the approval of Michigan’s Liquor Control Commission.

In its earlier opinion, this court held: It is undisputed that Klukavy & Fitzgerald did assume full and complete control of the business immediately after signing the management agreement and prior to any approval from the Liquor Control Commission. Pursuant to this provision of the agreement, Klukavy & Fitzgerald received 100% of all gross sales of the business and made disbursements thereof in direct violation of the Michigan Administrative Code.

654 F.Supp. at 627.

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Bluebook (online)
717 F. Supp. 480, 1989 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 7801, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/klukavy-v-united-national-insurance-mied-1989.