Newbern v. American Family Mutual Insurance Company

CourtDistrict Court, E.D. Missouri
DecidedJuly 7, 2020
Docket1:19-cv-00086
StatusUnknown

This text of Newbern v. American Family Mutual Insurance Company (Newbern v. American Family Mutual Insurance Company) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, E.D. Missouri primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Newbern v. American Family Mutual Insurance Company, (E.D. Mo. 2020).

Opinion

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT EASTERN DISTRICT OF MISSOURI SOUTHEASTERN DIVISION

ROBERT NEWBERN and ) PATRICIA NEWBERN, ) ) Plaintiffs, ) ) vs. ) Case No. 1:19 CV 86 ACL ) AMERICAN FAMILY MUTUAL ) INSURANCE COMPANY, S.I., ) ) Defendant. )

MEMORANDUM AND ORDER

This matter is before the Court on Defendant American Family Mutual Insurance Company, S.I.’s (“American Family”) Motion for Summary Judgment (Doc. 47) and Plaintiffs Robert Newbern and Patricia Newbern’s (“the Newberns”) Cross Motion for Summary Judgment (Doc. 49) in this insurance coverage dispute. The parties have consented to the jurisdiction of the undersigned United States Magistrate Judge pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 636(c)(1). For the following reasons, the Court will grant American Family’s Motion for Summary Judgment and deny the Newberns’ Motion for Summary Judgment. Background On May 28, 2019, American Family removed this action from the Circuit Court of Cape Girardeau, Missouri, based on diversity of citizenship. (Doc. 1.) In the Petition for Declaratory Judgment, Plaintiffs Robert Newbern and Patricia Newbern, husband and wife, seek a determination of their rights and obligations under policies of insurance that were issued to them by American Family. (Doc. 1-1.) Plaintiff Robert Newbern was involved in an automobile accident in which he sustained injuries and damages on May 20, 2018. Destiny Moore was the operator of the vehicle that impacted Robert Newbern’s vehicle, and was an uninsured motorist as defined by the four automobile insurance policies issued to the Newberns by American Family. Plaintiffs argue that Robert Newbern is allowed to stack the $100,000 policy limits for the uninsured motorist coverage in all four policies. Plaintiffs therefore request that the Court enter a judgment declaring Plaintiffs are entitled to stack the coverage in the four polices and that the total

amount of uninsured motorist coverage available to Plaintiffs is $400,000. On April 10, 2020, American Family filed the instant Motion for Summary Judgment, arguing that it is entitled to judgment as a matter of law because American Family has paid the amounts owed under the unambiguous terms of the policies. Specifically, American Family states that it has paid Plaintiffs $100,000 under the first policy, and then $25,000 under the next three policies, for a total of $175,000. American Family disputes that it owes Plaintiffs the remaining balance of $225,000, due to application of the “owned vehicle” exclusion, which limits the applicable stacked coverage on the three polices to $25,000 each. In its cross Motion for Summary Judgment, Plaintiffs argue that the “owned vehicle”

exclusion does not apply in this case because the term “own” as used in the relevant policies is ambiguous. They contend that they are entitled to judgment as a matter of law in their favor and American Family’s Motion for Summary Judgment should be denied. Summary Judgment Standard Pursuant to Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 56(a), a district court may grant a motion for summary judgment if all of the information before the court demonstrates that “there is no genuine issue as to any material fact and the moving party is entitled to judgment as a matter of law.” Celotex Corp. v. Catrett, 477 U.S. 317, 322 (1986). The burden is on the moving party. City of Mt. Pleasant, Iowa v. Associated Elec. Co-op. Inc., 838 F.2d 268, 273 (8th Cir.1988). The movant “bears the initial responsibility of informing the district court of the basis for its motion” and must identify “those portions of [the record] . . . which it believes demonstrate the absence of a genuine issue of material fact.” Celotex Corp., 477 U.S. at 323. If the movant does so, the nonmovant must respond by submitting evidentiary materials that set out “specific facts showing that there is a genuine issue for trial.” Id. at 324 (quotation marks omitted).

Where the parties file cross-motions for summary judgment, each summary judgment motion must be evaluated independently to determine whether a genuine dispute of material fact exists and whether the movant is entitled to judgment as a matter of law. See, e.g., Wermager v. Cormorant Township Bd., 716 F.2d 1211, 1214 (8th Cir. 1983) (“[T]he filing of cross motions for summary judgment does not necessarily indicate that there is no dispute as to a material fact, or have the effect of submitting the cause to a plenary determination on the merits.”). Facts As a threshold matter, Local Rule 4.01(E) imposes requirements concerning statements of uncontroverted material fact in connection with summary judgment motions:

Every memorandum in support of a motion for summary judgment must be accompanied by a document titled Statement of Uncontroverted Material Facts, which must be separately filed using the filing event, “Statement of Uncontroverted Material Facts.” The Statement of Uncontroverted Material Facts must set forth each relevant fact in a separately numbered paragraph stating how each fact is established by the record, with appropriate supporting citation( s). Every memorandum in opposition must be accompanied by a document titled Response to Statement of Material Facts, which must be separately filed using the filing event “Response to Statement of Material Facts.” The Response must set forth each relevant fact as to which the party contends a genuine issue exists. The facts in dispute shall be set forth with specific citation(s) to the record, where available, upon which the opposing party relies. The opposing party also shall note for all disputed facts the paragraph number from the moving party’s Statement of Uncontroverted Material Facts. All matters set forth in the moving party’s Statement of Uncontroverted Material Facts shall be deemed admitted for purposes of summary judgment unless specifically controverted by the opposing party. E.D. Mo. L.R. 4.01(E). American Family filed a Statement of Uncontroverted Material Facts, setting forth facts in separately numbered paragraphs with supporting citations to the record. (Doc. 47-1.) The Newberns then filed their “Cross-Motion for Summary Judgment of Plaintiffs and Opposition to Defendant’s Motion for Summary Judgment,” (Doc. 49), along with a “Memorandum of Points and Authorities in Support of Cross-Motion for Summary Judgment, and in Opposition to Defendant’s Motion for Summary Judgment” (Doc. 50). American Family filed a Reply to

Plaintiffs’ Response to Defendant’s Motion for Summary Judgment (Doc. 51) and a Response to Plaintiffs’ Cross-Motion for Summary Judgment (Doc. 52). Two days later, American Family provided the Court with recently decided supplemental authority in support of its Motion. (Doc. 53.) Finally, Plaintiffs filed a Reply to Defendant’s Response to Plaintiffs’ Motion for Summary Judgment. (Doc. 54.) As American Family points out, the Newberns did not file a Response to Statement of Material Facts admitting or denying American Family’s numbered facts pursuant to Rule 4.01(E). The Newberns acknowledged that they did not follow the local rule, but state that, “[i]nstead, Plaintiffs incorporated their Statement of Uncontroverted Material Facts in their memorandum of points and authorities.” (Doc. 54 at p. 4.) They refer to a section within their

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Bluebook (online)
Newbern v. American Family Mutual Insurance Company, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/newbern-v-american-family-mutual-insurance-company-moed-2020.