Lawson v. Life of South Insurance

286 F.R.D. 689, 83 Fed. R. Serv. 3d 1012, 2012 WL 4483748, 2012 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 140831
CourtDistrict Court, M.D. Georgia
DecidedSeptember 28, 2012
DocketNo. 4:06-cv-42 (WLS)
StatusPublished
Cited by8 cases

This text of 286 F.R.D. 689 (Lawson v. Life of South Insurance) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, M.D. Georgia primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Lawson v. Life of South Insurance, 286 F.R.D. 689, 83 Fed. R. Serv. 3d 1012, 2012 WL 4483748, 2012 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 140831 (M.D. Ga. 2012).

Opinion

ORDER

W. LOUIS SANDS, District Judge.

Before the Court is Defendant’s Motion to Strike or Dismiss Plaintiffs Class Action Allegations or in the Alternative, to Deny Class [692]*692Certification (hereinafter “Motion to Strike”) (Doc. 142), which the Court GRANTS for reasons fully explained below.

PROCEDURAL and RELEVANT FACTUAL BACKGROUND1

Plaintiff and her husband, Jerry Lawson, who is now deceased (hereinafter collectively “the Lawsons”),2 filed the instant putative class action against Defendant on March 13, 2006, in the Superior Court of Muscogee County, Georgia, based on the following set of facts. (Doc. 1-1.) The Lawsons purchased a 2000 Chevrolet Blazer on or about December 30, 2002, in Morrow, Georgia, and received financing in the form of an installment loan from Chase Manhattan Bank. Contemporaneously, the Lawsons purchased a single, one-time premium credit insurance policy to cover the car loan amount in the event of their death or disability. The credit insurance policy premium was calculated to cover the entire sixty-month period of the car loan, and would terminate on the earliest of (1) the date of termination of the indebtedness prior to the maturity date due to voluntary prepayment, (2) the date of termination of the indebtedness prior to the maturity date due to involuntary prepayment such as foreclosure or default, or (3) the scheduled maturity date of the indebtedness. (Doc. 1-3.)

Based on the terms of the policy, any unearned premium was to be refunded to the Lawsons—or more specifically, to their creditor—if the car loan was paid off early. Although the Lawsons caused the Chase Manhattan car loan to be paid in full on or about April 21, 2005, prior to the scheduled expiration date of the loan (Doe. 1-2 ¶¶ 7-16), Defendant did not return the unearned premium to the Lawsons (Doc. 1-2 ¶ 16). The Lawsons, however, never notified Defendant that they paid the Chase Manhattan car loan in full.

In the present suit, Plaintiff claims her entitlement to a return of the unearned premium from April 21, 2005, through the term remaining on the loan at the time of its termination. (Doc. 1-2 ¶ 15.) Based on this claim, she alleges breach of contract, unjust enrichment, and negligence, among others, on her behalf and on the behalf of all similarly situated persons (a) who are residents of the United States, (b) who purchased or will purchase credit life insurance, credit disability insurance, and/or any single premium credit insurance product from Defendant; (e) whose underlying loan stopped or could stop prior to the expiration of the term of indebtedness; and (d) who were not paid or might not be paid a refund of unearned premium. (Doe. 1-2 ¶¶ 3, 22.) Pursuant to these claims, Plaintiff seeks, among other relief, individually and for the purported class, compensatory damages for breach of contract, negligence, and willful, wanton, and intentional misconduct in the amount of the owed unearned premiums, plus interest; injunctive relief requiring Defendant to ensure future insureds’ receipt of refunds to which they are entitled; and punitive damages. (Doc. 1-2 ¶¶ 35-41.)

Defendant removed the action to this Court on April 12, 2006, pursuant to the Class Action Fairness Act (“CAFA”) of 2005. (Doc. 1.) Defendant answered the Complaint on April 17, 2006. (Doc. 2.) The ease remained stayed from June 2010 (Doc. 106) until November 2011 (Doc. 123), when the Eleventh Circuit affirmed this Court’s March 31, 2010 Order denying Defendant’s Motion to Compel Arbitration (Doc. 121). After lifting the stay, the Court held a scheduling and discovery conference with the Parties on February 2,2012. (Doc. 126.)

Thereafter, the Parties entered the discovery period (Doc. 126), and in the interim, on May 11, 2012, Defendant filed the instant Motion to Strike (Doc. 142). Plaintiff filed a response thereto on June 4, 2012 (Doc. 153), [693]*693and following the grant of an extension (Doc. 153), Defendant filed its reply on July 2, 2012 (Doc. 160). Briefing on Defendant’s Motion to Strike is therefore complete and said Motion is ripe for the Court’s review.

DISCUSSION

I. The Parties ’ Arguments

In its Motion to Strike, Defendant moves this Court, pursuant to Fed.R.Civ.P. 23(d)(1)(D), to enter an order striking or dismissing Plaintiffs class action allegations. (Doc. 142). In support of its Motion, Defendant primarily relies on two Middle District of Georgia eases, Bishop’s Property & Invs., LLC v. Protective Life Ins. Co., 255 F.R.D. 619 (M.D.Ga.2009), and Adams v. Monumental Gen. Cas. Co., No. 4:05-cv-132 (CDL), 2009 WL 383625 (M.D.Ga. Feb. 12, 2009), where class certification was denied on facts substantially similar to those now before the Court in this case. (Doc. 142 at 1; Doc. 143 at 4). Alternatively, for all of the reasons proffered in support of striking or dismissing class allegations, Defendant, pursuant to Fed.R.Civ.P. 23(c)(1), requests the Court to deny class certification, which Defendant argues it can preemptively request. (Doc. 142 at 2,16 (citations omitted)).

Defendant argues that, according to Bishop and Adams, class treatment in this case is inappropriate, where “ ‘each insured’s entitlement to a refund will depend upon the individual circumstances of the insured’s ease,’”—namely, whether the insured was required to notify the insurer of the early pay off. (Doc. 143 at 8 (quoting Bishop, 255 F.R.D. at 621-22).) Defendant states that because individual issues will predominate over common ones in such circumstances, “variations in the contracts and the applicable state law [regarding their inclusion of notice provisions] defeat[ ] class certification.” (Doc. 143 at 9,10.)

Defendant notes, for example, that some of its contracts contain notice provisions as a condition precedent to its refund obligation, while others do not contain any notice provision whatsoever. Additionally, other contracts, contends Defendant, place the burden of notice on the insured while others place it on the creditor. (Doc. 143 at 10.) Defendant further explains, among other distinctions among the policies, that the contracts vary as to (1) who is obligated to make the refund— for example, with some requiring Defendant to make the refund, while others requiring the creditor to do so or for Defendant to make the refund to the creditor, who in turn will make the refund to the insured—and as to (2) whom the refund must be given— whether to the debtor, the creditor, or the creditor who will credit the debtor’s account. (Doc. 143 at 10-13 (noting further distinction as to timing, formula calculation, and minimum amount of refund).) As a result of these variations in the contractual provisions, an individualized examination of each putative class member’s case is required—a process that “is not amenable to a uniform or formulaic application” in a class action suit. (Doc. 143 at 14, 15 (“Such wide variation dooms Plaintiffs proposed class.”).)

Finally, Defendant explains that Eleventh Circuit precedent requires this Court to reject “certification of a nationwide class action based on common law claims because of the complicated choice of law issue.” (Doc. 143 at 19.) It bases this position on “this Courtfs inability to] ...

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Bluebook (online)
286 F.R.D. 689, 83 Fed. R. Serv. 3d 1012, 2012 WL 4483748, 2012 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 140831, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/lawson-v-life-of-south-insurance-gamd-2012.