N.F.L. Insurance Ltd. Ex Rel. Lines v. B & B Holdings, Inc.

874 F. Supp. 606, 1995 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 930, 1995 WL 31767
CourtDistrict Court, S.D. New York
DecidedJanuary 26, 1995
Docket91 Civ. 8580 (PKL)
StatusPublished
Cited by10 cases

This text of 874 F. Supp. 606 (N.F.L. Insurance Ltd. Ex Rel. Lines v. B & B Holdings, Inc.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, S.D. New York primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
N.F.L. Insurance Ltd. Ex Rel. Lines v. B & B Holdings, Inc., 874 F. Supp. 606, 1995 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 930, 1995 WL 31767 (S.D.N.Y. 1995).

Opinion

OPINION AND ORDER

LEISURE, District Judge.

Plaintiff N.F.L. Insurance Ltd. (“NFLIL”), represented by its liquidators, brings this action against fourteen teams of the National Football League (the “NFL”), the NFL, the NFL Management Council (“NFLMC”), and seventeen members of NFLIL’s Board of Directors. NFLIL is a Bermuda mutual insurance company and was organized as part of a program to self-insure the participating teams’ workers’ compensation risks, including the risk of player injuries. NFLIL seeks to recover $4,734,871 in contributions the company allegedly is owed by the participating teams. NFLIL further seeks damages for defendant directors’ alleged breaches of fiduciary duties. Defendants now move this Court for summary judgment, pursuant to Rule 56 of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure. Defendants also assert a counterclaim for the return of contributions by some teams, allegedly placed in escrow by NFLIL pending a decision by the other teams as to whether to contribute. For the reasons stated below, defendants’ motion is granted in part and denied in part.

BACKGROUND

This Court previously summarized a majority of the background facts relevant to the instant action in its Opinion and Order, dated *608 March 18, 1993 (the “Opinion”), and this section merely reviews much of what was stated in the analogous section of the Opinion. In 1984, defendants created NFLIL as a “captive” mutual insurance company in Bermuda pursuant to a plan to self-insure their players and employees for employment-related injuries. The Bermuda captive company was formed to reinsure the teams’ workers’ compensation insurance. Each NFL team that obtained workers’ compensation insurance through the program became a “member” of the mutual company.

NFLIL contracted with various insurers, including at various times The Home Insurance Company, The Travelers Insurance Company, The Travelers Indemnity Company, and The Travelers Indemnity Company of Illinois, to act as “fronting” companies. The fronting company wrote the insurance policies for the various teams’ workers’ compensation insurance plans. NFLIL then reinsured the primary layer of risk of the policies issued by the fronting companies to the participating members of the captive. The members of the captive paid premiums directly to the fronting company. The fronting company then passed the premium received on to NFLIL, less a deposit held by the fronting company, reimbursement for amounts paid by the fronting company to reinsure risk in excess of the primary layer, commissions, and certain taxes. The reinsurance agreements obligated NFLIL, within certain limitations set forth in the agreements, to reimburse the fronting companies for claims paid to injured employees of the participating teams.

Starting in 1987, Fred S. James (New York) (“James”) and its Bermuda subsidiary, James (Bermuda), served as NFLIL’s insurance broker and Bermuda managing agent. NFLIL was originally capitalized with a reserve fund of $250,000, which was subsequently increased to $314,000. By June 30, 1987, however, NFLIL’s balance sheet showed a reserve fund of $432,000 and a members’ deficit of $1,504,955. Over the course of 1988, the members contributed $1,998,834 to NFLIL in an effort to ensure that it remained solvent. On February 9, 1989, Arthur Andersen & Co. reported that NFLIL had a significant deficit with respect to the fiscal year ending June 30, 1988. The report showed a deficit of $3,692,000 as of June 30, 1988. In response, NFLIL’s agent sent a letter to the Bermuda Registrar of Companies on February 8, 1989, seeking an extension of NFLIL’s time to file its Statutory Financial Return.

On or about March 1, 1989, eleven NFLIL members or directors attended a meeting (the “Meeting”) at which, plaintiff contends, it was decided that the members would need to contribute $4,734,871 in new capital in order to remedy NFLIL’s deficiency. Plaintiff alleges that the actions taken at the Meeting constituted a valid contract between the members and the NFLIL. In the alternative, plaintiff claims that the members entered into a contract among themselves, with the NFLIL as an intended third party beneficiary to that contract. Of the $4,734,871 that allegedly was promised at the Meeting, only $595,773 actually was paid by participating teams. Moreover, defendants- allege that those funds that were paid, were to be held in escrow until each member of NFLIL contributed its just share of the additional capital.

Thereafter, NFLIL became the subject of a winding-up proceeding in the Bermuda Supreme Court. On September 26,1991, David E.W. Lines and Peter C.B. Mitchell were appointed joint liquidators of NFLIL. The liquidators calculated the members’ deficiency on the date the winding-up proceeding was commenced as being in excess of $14 million. On December 20, 1991, the liquidators purported to issue a call on the participating teams in the aggregate amount of $14,508,708. On the same day, the liquidators filed this action.

The original complaint contained five counts: counts I and II were based on language of the Bermuda Companies Act (“BCA”) applicable to mutual companies; count III was based on BCA provisions applicable to non-mutual companies; count IV alleged breach of contract; and count V alleged breach of fiduciary duty. In the Opinion, this Court dismissed, in their entirety, counts I, II, III, and IV, but plaintiff was granted permission to replead the fourth *609 cause of action. Plaintiff was further granted permission to supplement the fifth cause of action to describe with greater specificity the directors’ alleged breach of their fiduciary duties.

On April 19, 1993, plaintiff served an amended complaint seeking to recover under four causes of action. First, plaintiff seeks to recover from the participating teams for breaching their purported contract with NFLIL. Second, plaintiff alleges that the member teams breached their contract to each other, to the detriment of the intended third party beneficiary, NFLIL. Third, plaintiff asserts that the directors and officers of NFLIL breached their fiduciary duty to the company by failing to enforce the March 1, 1989 contract. Finally, plaintiff seeks recovery from the directors and officers of NFLIL, for breaching their fiduciary duty by allowing NFLIL to conduct business when insolvent.

DISCUSSION

I. The Standard for Summary Judgment

Rule 56(e) of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure provides that summary judgment “shall be rendered forthwith- if the pleadings, depositions, answers to interrogatories, and admissions on file, together with the affidavits, if any, show that there is no genuine issue as to any material fact and that the moving party is entitled to a judgment as a matter of law.” Celotex Corp. v. Catrett, 477 U.S. 317, 322, 106 S.Ct. 2548, 2552, 91 L.Ed.2d 265 (1986); see also Anderson v. Liberty Lobby, Inc.,

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Bluebook (online)
874 F. Supp. 606, 1995 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 930, 1995 WL 31767, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/nfl-insurance-ltd-ex-rel-lines-v-b-b-holdings-inc-nysd-1995.