Lavelle v. State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Company

235 F. Supp. 3d 217, 2017 WL 706157, 2017 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 24198
CourtDistrict Court, District of Columbia
DecidedFebruary 22, 2017
DocketCivil Action No. 2016-1082
StatusPublished

This text of 235 F. Supp. 3d 217 (Lavelle v. State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Company) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, District of Columbia primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Lavelle v. State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Company, 235 F. Supp. 3d 217, 2017 WL 706157, 2017 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 24198 (D.D.C. 2017).

Opinion

MEMORANDUM OPINION

REGGIE B. WALTON, United States District Judge

Evna T. LaVelle and Lavenia LaVelle," the plaintiffs in this putative class action, filed suit in the Superior Court of the District of Columbia (“Superior Court”) against the defendant, State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Company (“State Farm”), álleging that “State Farm breached its insurance contract with its insureds in the District of Columbia by failing to pay them' for the diminished value [ ] of their vehicles after they were repaired to industry standards and committed unfair trade practices.” Motion for Remand (“Pis.’ Mot”) at 1. State Farm then removed the case to this Court pursuant to the Class Action Fairness Act of 2005, 28 U.S.C. § 1332(d) (2012). See Notice of Removal at 1. Currently before the Court is the plaintiffs’ Motion for Remand, which requests that this ease be returned to the Superior Court. See Pl.’s Mot. at 1. Upon careful consideration of the parties’ submissions, 1 the Court concludes that it must deny the plaintiffs’ motion.

I.BACKGROUND

“On August 9, 2015, [the plaintiffs’] vehicle was struck by an uninsured driver at the corner of Half Street SE and M Street SE in the District, of Columbia.” Compl. ¶ 7. The plaintiffs’ vehicle, a 2014 Audi A6, sustained damages that required over $17,000 to repair. Id. According to the plaintiffs, “[a]s a result of the damage suffered to the vehicle in the accident, the vehicle was worth less after it was repaired than it was before the accident.” Id ¶ 8. State Farrr), the plaintiffs’ insurer, see id ¶ 1, covered the vehicle’s repair costs pursuant to the plaintiffs’ Uninsured Motor Vehicle Coverage, see id. ¶¶ 2, 9, but did not i cover “the diminution of value damages [the plaintiffs] suffered,” id. IT 9.

On April 22, 2016, the plaintiffs filed their Class Action Complaint in the Superior Court as the proposed class representatives of the following putative class:

All [State Farm] insureds with District of -Columbia -policies issued in the District of Columbia, where the insured’s vehicle damages were covered under Underinsured Motorist Coverage, and
' 1. the repair estimates on the vehicle (including any supplements) totaled at least $1,000; and
2. the vehicle was .no more .than six years old (model year plus five years) and had less than 90,000 miles on it at the time of the accident; ' and
3. the vehicle suffered structural (frame) damage. and/or deformed sheet metal and/or required body or paint work.
Excluded from the Class are (a) claims involving leased vehicles or total losses, and (b) the assigned Judge, the Judge’s staff and family.

Id. ¶22. The plaintiffs allege that State Farm failed to cover the diminished value of the putative class members’ vehicles pursuant to their policies, id. ¶ 6, and assert three causes of action against State Farm: breach of contract, unlawful and deceptive trade practices in violation of the *220 District of Columbia Consumer Protection Procedures Act (the “Consumer Protection Act”), and breach of the implied covenant of good faith and fair dealing, id. ¶¶ 35, 43, 49-51. The plaintiffs request the following relief:

a. Actual damages in the form of payment of the difference between the insured vehicles’ pre[-]loss fair market values and their projected fair market values as repaired vehicles immediately after the accident in amounts to be determined at trial;
b. Treble damages or $1500 per violation of the [Consumer Protection Act] for each District of Columbia consumer, whichever is greater;
c. Costs of suit including reasonable attorney fees; [and]
d. Punitive damages in amounts to be determined at trial ....

Id. at 15.

On June 9, 2016, State Farm filed its Notice of Removal, removing the case from Superior Court to this Court pursuant to the Class Action Fairness Act. See Notice of Removal at 1. On July 8, 2016, the plaintiffs filed their Motion for Remand. See Pl.’s Mot. at 1. In their motion, the plaintiffs argue that this Court does not have federal subject-matter jurisdiction because State Farm has not demonstrated that the amount in controversy exceeds the $5 million threshold requirement of the Class Action Fairness Act. See id.

II. STANDARD OF REVIEW

The Class Action Fairness Act vests federal district courts with jurisdiction over certain class actions if (1) the putative class has over 100 members, (2) the parties are minimally diverse, and (3) the amount in controversy exceeds $5 million. 28 U.S.C. § 1332(d)(2), (5). The claims of all putative class members are aggregated to determine the amount in controversy. Id. § 1332(d)(6). If a defendant seeks to remove a class action to federal court pursuant to the Class Action Fairness Act, the “defendant’s notice of removal need include only a plausible allegation that the amount in controversy exceeds the jurisdictional threshold.” Dart Cherokee Basin Operating Co. v. Owens, — U.S.-, 135 S.Ct. 547, 554, 190 L.Ed.2d 495 (2014) (citing 28 U.S.C. § 1446(c)(2)(B)). However, if the plaintiff contests the defendant’s allegation, “both sides submit proof and the court decides, by a preponderance of the evidence, whether the amount-in-controversy requirement has been satisfied.” Id.

III. ANALYSIS

The plaintiffs argue that this Court should remand the case to the Superior Court because State Farm has failed to show by a preponderance of the evidence that the $5 million amount-in-controversy requirement for removal under j;he Class Action Fairness Act has been satisfied. See Pis.’ Mot. at 1; Pis.’ Reply at 1. The parties agree, for purposes of the removal analysis, that each class member has an average damages amount of $1,429. See Pis.’ Mot. at 5; Def.’s Opp’n at 7. However, the plaintiffs dispute State Farm’s calculations of three other factors: the class size, the amount of attorneys’ fees, and the amount of punitive damages. See Pis.’ Reply at 1-2.

A. Class Size

State Farm argues that the putative class consists of 1,171 members. See Defi’s Opp’n at 7. State Farm arrived at this number by generating a report of claims “that were at least partially paid under uninsured motorist or underinsured motorist coverage!] for policies issued in *221 the District of Columbia, where the total repair estimates were equal to or greater than $1,000.” Id Attachment (“Att.”) 1 (Declaration of Jay Thorpe (“Thorpe Decl”)) ¶7. Then, State Farm limited the results of that report to “claims involving vehicles that were no more than six years old ... at the time of the accident; had fewer than 90,000 miles at the time of the accident; were not leased vehicles; [] were not potential total lossesf;] ...

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
235 F. Supp. 3d 217, 2017 WL 706157, 2017 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 24198, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/lavelle-v-state-farm-mutual-automobile-insurance-company-dcd-2017.