Markarian v. Connecticut Mutual Life Insurance

202 F.R.D. 60, 2001 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 18979, 2001 WL 939085
CourtDistrict Court, D. Massachusetts
DecidedAugust 13, 2001
DocketNo. C.A. 96-10421-MLW
StatusPublished
Cited by14 cases

This text of 202 F.R.D. 60 (Markarian v. Connecticut Mutual Life Insurance) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, D. Massachusetts primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Markarian v. Connecticut Mutual Life Insurance, 202 F.R.D. 60, 2001 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 18979, 2001 WL 939085 (D. Mass. 2001).

Opinion

MEMORANDUM AND ORDER

WOLF, District Judge.

I. SUMMARY

Plaintiff Mark Markarian (“Markarian”) brought this putative class action on behalf of individuals who purchased certain types of life insurance policies from Connecticut Mutual Life Insurance Company (“Connecticut Mutual”)1 between January 1, 1980 and December 31, 1992. Markarian alleges that Connecticut Mutual intentionally engaged in [61]*61deceptive sales practices by having agents use a “vanishing premium” sales strategy to sell life insurance policies.

The type of policy at issue in this case has been known both as the “Modified Paid-Up Option” and the “Modified Payment Option,” the abbreviation for both of which is “MPO.” In a 1981 communication to agents, Connecticut Mutual explained that:

MPO is a permanent insurance illustration that features an alternative way in which a policy may be paid-up through the use of dividend accumulations or dividend additions.
MPO differs from the traditional reduced paid-up method of using dividends to pay up a policy in that the paid-up date occurs so much earlier, and there is no sharp reduction in the death benefit when the policy becomes “paid-up.” The MPO approach is to have dividends accumulate at interest!,] or purchase paid-up additions for a sufficient number of years!,] such that annual dividends from then on plus either withdrawals from accumulated dividends or partial surrenders of paid-up additions will, based on the current dividend scale, be sufficient to pay all future premiums.

Connecticut Mutual’s board of directors determines its dividend level on an annual basis.

Markarian met with an insurance agent in May, 1987 to discuss different types of life insurance products. The agent made a sales presentation to Markarian that included an Illustration of a Connecticut Mutual MPO policy, which showed the amount and timing of premium payments, the dividends paid during the initial years of the policy, as well as other aspects of the policy. Markarian asserts that the Illustration indicated that if he made seven annual payments — $1,255 each year between 1987 and 1993 — and an additional payment of $244 in the eighth year, he would owe no further “net premiums.” In other words, at the end of the eight years, the total net premiums would be $0. The document also stated that the amount of dividends shown on the Illustration was not a guarantee or estimate. Mar-karian, however, may not have read this language and purchased a $100,000 whole life insurance policy believing that the premiums would “vanish” after seven years. In May, 1995, two years after the premiums were to have “vanished,” Markarian received a premium notice from Connecticut Mutual in the amount of $1,255.

In February, 1996, Markarian filed the instant lawsuit and has asserted claims of fraudulent inducement, negligent misrepresentation, breach of fiduciary duty, unjust enrichment, reckless, wanton, and/or negligent supervision, breach of contract, declaratory and injunctive relief, reformation, violation of Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 93A (“Chapter 93A”), and violation of deceptive trade practices laws. This court has jurisdiction pursuant to 28 U.S.C. §§ 1332 and 1367.

Pending before the court is Markarian’s motion for class certification. After a hearing, for the reasons set forth below, Markari-an’s motion for class certification is being denied.

II. PROCEDURAL HISTORY

Markarian filed his original complaint on February 29, 1996. On April 26, 1996, Connecticut Mutual filed a motion to dismiss, which became moot with the filing of the first amended complaint on July 15, 1996. Connecticut Mutual filed a motion to dismiss the first amended complaint on August 23, 1996. The court denied the motion to dismiss after a hearing, and in its December 15, 1997 order allowed Markarian’s motion to amend his complaint to add a claim under Chapter 93A.

Markarian- filed a second amended complaint on January 26, 1998, and Connecticut Mutual filed a motion to dismiss that complaint on February 3, 1998. After a hearing, on November 3, 1998 the court denied Connecticut Mutual’s motion to dismiss the count alleging fraudulent inducement, and reserved judgment as to the viability of the remaining claims.

III. REQUEST FOR CLASS CERTIFICATION

In his second amended complaint, Marka-rian proposed a class that included:

[62]*62[A]ll persons (the “Class”) who, from and after January 1, 1980 (the “Class Period”), purchased life insurance policies underwritten and sold by Connecticut Mutual based upon Connecticut Mutual’s policy illustrations using the “premium offset” or “vanishing premium” concept and whose damages exceed the sum of $50,000. This action is also brought on behalf of a Subclass of persons who were residents of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts at the time they purchased their policies (the “Chapter 93A Subclass”) and a Subclass of persons who at the time they purchased the policies were residents of states with either (a) an applicable deceptive trade practice statute which prohibits unfair or deceptive practices in the sale of life insurance policies, or (b) an applicable insurance statute which prohibits unfair or deceptive practices in the sale of life insurance policies, and which expressly or by implication provides for a private right of action for violations of the statute (the “Deceptive Practices Subclass”).

In his motion for class certification Marka-rian narrowed the definition to include only:

All persons who, while residents of Massachusetts, purchased any Insurance Policies from Connecticut Mutual between January 1, 1980 and December 31, 1992, and who, according to Connecticut Mutual’s records and/or the records of its agents, purchased based on the “Modified Paid-up Option” or “Modified Payment Option” (“MPO”) concept and/or who signed and submitted an MPO authorization form at or about the time of purchase.
For the purposes of this definition “Insurance Policies” shall mean the following: Whole Life; Graded Premium Life; Eco-nolife; GPL 20; or Executive Whole Life. Expressly excluded from the class are Defendant, its employees, officers, agents and brokers, to avoid conflict of interest,

(internal footnote omitted).

Connecticut Mutual filed its opposition to the motion for class certification on December 14, 1999. Markarian filed his reply on February 4, 2000, in which he agreed to exclude from the class definition: (1) policyholders whose beneficiaries received the full death benefit; (2) policyholders whose employers provided their policies as part of executive benefit plans; and (3) policyholders who were not shown or given an MPO Illustration at the time of sale. Connecticut Mutual filed a surreply on October 27, 2000.

The court held a hearing on plaintiffs motion on November 9, 2000. At that hearing, Markarian further narrowed his request for class certification, limiting the time period to include claims that arose after January 1, 1987, and limiting the proposed class to include only individuals whose claims arise under Chapter 93A.

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Bluebook (online)
202 F.R.D. 60, 2001 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 18979, 2001 WL 939085, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/markarian-v-connecticut-mutual-life-insurance-mad-2001.