Riverside Insurance v. Smith

628 F.2d 1002, 7 Fed. R. Serv. 659
CourtCourt of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit
DecidedAugust 18, 1980
DocketNo. 79-2001
StatusPublished
Cited by1 cases

This text of 628 F.2d 1002 (Riverside Insurance v. Smith) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Riverside Insurance v. Smith, 628 F.2d 1002, 7 Fed. R. Serv. 659 (7th Cir. 1980).

Opinions

NICHOLS, Associate Judge.

This case is before the court on the contention of defendants-appellants, William E. Smith, Fairy Lee Smith, and Shirley Landis, individually and as mother and natural guardian of Shirley Jean Cobbs, deceased (hereinafter appellants), that the district court’s decision to grant plaintiff-appellee’s Riverside Insurance Company of America (hereinafter appellee), motion for directed verdict was erroneous as a matter of law and that particular rulings made by the district court before and during trial constitute reversible error. Alternatively, appellants contend that they should be granted a new trial. After thorough consideration of these matters, we affirm the conclusion of the district court.

[1004]*1004The facts of this case, established by the district court and not disputed by the parties, are as follows. An automobile collision occurred early in the morning of February 26, 1976, on a state highway between Franklin and Martinsville, Indiana. Appellant’s decedent lost her life. ' So did Kathy J. Arnold, driver of the other car. That other car was owned by Frances C. Heidenreich. Appellee’s insurance policy covered the latter car when driven by the owner and by certain others. In an Indiana state court action, appellants obtained three individual monetary judgments against Jean Goss, Administratrix of the Estate of Arnold.

The car had been loaned to Miss Arnold by Willetta Sue Heath (hereinafter Willetta), an adult daughter of the Heidenreichs who lived with them in Martinsville.

At that time Willetta was employed at Arvin Industries in Franklin, about 28 miles from Martinsville. Up until a few days prior to the accident involved, Willetta had ridden to work in a car pool with another Martinsville resident also employed at Arvin.

When Willetta lost her car pool the insured, Frances Heidenreich, gave Willetta permission to operate the insured car to drive from Martinsville to Franklin to her place of employment and return. On a few occasions prior to that, Mrs. Heidenreich had given Willetta permission to drive from Martinsville to Franklin to her place of employment on nights when Willetta planned to participate in a bowling league the following day and intended to stay in Franklin overnight.

Willetta drove to work on Wednesday, February 25, 1976, intending to stay overnight with a friend in Franklin so that she could bowl the following day.

When she got off work at 1:00 a. m. on February 26, 1976, Willetta went to a cafe in Franklin where Kathy Arnold approached her and asked to use the insured car to return to Martinsville. Willetta, without calling her mother, allowed Arnold to take the car and she left the cafe about 1:30 a. m. on Thursday, February 26, 1976, promising Willetta that she would take the car directly to Mrs. Heidenreich. Appellee’s policy provides in reference to insureds:

III. Definition of Insured. Except as provided under Insuring Agreement V and Coverage C-Section (2), the unqualified word “Insured” includes the Named Insured and, if the Named Insured is an individual, his spouse, and also includes any other person while using the automobile or any person or organization legally responsible for the use thereof, provided the actual use of the automobile is by the Named Insured or spouse or with the permission of either or with the permission of an adult member of the Named Insured’s household, other than a chauffeur or domestic servant, provided that such adult member of said household is authorized by the Named Insured or spouse to grant such permission. * * *

The district court specifically found that although Willetta was an adult member of the insured’s household, she had not been authorized by appellee’s named insureds Charles and Frances Heidenreich, to grant permission for use of the automobile to any other person. Indeed, Willetta had been specifically prohibited by the Heidenreichs from allowing other persons to operate the vehicle. The district court found that this was a long-standing rule in the Heidenreich household and was well known to their daughter. Moreover, when Willetta started using her mother’s car the week of the accident, she had been specifically reinstructed as to the family’s prohibition against allowing others to operate it. Finally, the district court found that neither Mrs. Heidenreich nor her husband, Charles, granted permission to Kathy Arnold to operate Mrs. Heidenreich’s automobile at the time of the accident.

The district court stated that while there had been some testimony that Willetta had loaned the car involved to others, and that Kathy Arnold had operated Mrs. Heidenreich’s automobile on occasions prior to the accident, there had been no evidence, or inference therefrom, that either Mr. or Mrs. Heidenreich had knowledge of such occur[1005]*1005rences, condoned them, and thereby im- - pliedly waived their expressed prohibition to Willetta not to allow others to drive Mrs. Heidenreich’s automobile.

Thus, pursuant to these findings of fact, the district court directed a verdict for appellee, concluding as a matter of law that:

1. under Indiana law an insured may properly expressly forbid or prohibit a permittee from allowing use of the vehicles by others and if such use is permitted contrary to such prohibition, there is no coverage under the policy for the permittee’s permit-tee;

2. accordingly, the insureds, Mr. and Mrs. Heidenreich, were at liberty to contract that coverage would be extended to permittees only when they had been authorized to use the car by the named insured, spouse, or one adult member of the household who had been authorized to grant such permission;

3. Kathy Arnold was not operating the Heidenreich automobile with the permission, express or implied, of the named insured and the actual use of the automobile had not been approved by an adult member of the Heidenreich household authorized by the named insured or spouse to grant such permission;

4. appellee’s policy provision requiring permission to be given either by the named insured or by an adult member of the household authorized to grant permission is not contrary to Indiana public policy and is clear and unambiguous; and,

5. under Indiana law, where there has been an express prohibition to a permittee against allowing others to operate the automobile, the insurance company has no duty to defend or pay any judgment obtained against such operator. State Farm Mutual Automobile Ins. Co. v. Automobile Underwriters, Inc., 371 F.2d 999 (7th Cir. 1967). Moreover, appellants’ claim for $5,000,000 in punitive damages for appellee’s alleged wrongful refusal to pay the state court judgments awarded appellants pursuant to the assignment from the estate of Kathy Arnold is dismissed because a claim for punitive damages is not a property interest and thus not assignable under Indiana law.

In this court, appellants make the following three arguments. First, appellants contend that the district court erred as a matter of law in directing a verdict for appellee because evidence presented at trial was more than sufficient to withstand appellee’s motion for a directed verdict. Secondly, appellants contend that the district court committed reversible error in disallowing appellants’ claim for punitive damages.

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Related

Riverside Insurance Company of America v. Smith
628 F.2d 1002 (Seventh Circuit, 1980)

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Bluebook (online)
628 F.2d 1002, 7 Fed. R. Serv. 659, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/riverside-insurance-v-smith-ca7-1980.