Rosenthal v. Allstate Property & Casualty Insurance Co.

712 F. App'x 401
CourtCourt of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit
DecidedNovember 14, 2017
Docket17-30433 Summary Calendar
StatusUnpublished
Cited by1 cases

This text of 712 F. App'x 401 (Rosenthal v. Allstate Property & Casualty Insurance Co.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Rosenthal v. Allstate Property & Casualty Insurance Co., 712 F. App'x 401 (5th Cir. 2017).

Opinion

PER CURIAM: *

Plaintiff-Appellant Henry Rosenthal brought several state-law claims against Defendant-Appellee Allstate Property and Casualty Insurance Company for failing to investigate and pay a claim related to engine damage to a 1991 Bluebird Recreational Vehicle in Louisiana state court. Allstate removed the case to federal court based on diversity jurisdiction and filed a motion for summary judgment. The district court granted this motion. Because Rosenthal has provided insufficient evidence to survive summary judgment, we AFFIRM.

I.

In June 2013, Henry Rosenthal purchased a 1991 Bluebird Recreational Vehicle (“RV”) in Virginia. Rosenthal drove this RV from Virginia to his house in Louisiana. From July 23, 2013, to June 8, 2015, Rosenthal did not drive the RV on the road, though he sometimes started the engine and drove it on his driveway. The RV was insured by Allstate Property and Casualty Insurance Company (“Allstate”).

Rosenthal alleges that a heavy rainstorm occurred on or around May 27, 2015, which damaged the engine. He claims that the engine first did not run and that when it finally ran, water spewed out of the exhaust. After the alleged rainstorm, he filed an insurance claim with Allstate on June 8, 2015. Two days later, Allstate sent an adjuster who photographed the RV and requested that Rosenthal have a mechanic of his choice evaluate the engine and provide a repair estimate.

Instead of having a mechanic inspect the engine, Rosenthal discussed the problem with Clarke Power Services (“Clarke”) over the phone. Rosenthal then emailed Allstate’s adjuster a repair estimate from Clarke. In response, the adjuster explained that he could not pay the claim without an actual inspection by a mechanic. After many conversations between Rosenthal and different Allstate representatives, Allstate enlisted a mechanical engineer in the Special Investigation Unit, Jeffrey Stark, to inspect the RV. Stark stated in his report that the most likely cause of the problem was the improper maintenance and storage of the engine (i.e., letting the RV sit idle for two years). He also advised that further examination of the engine, which would entail partial disassembly, could confirm the exact cause of the damage and was necessary in order to assess the repairs. Ro-senthal refused to get this additional inspection. Accordingly, Allstate denied the claim for failure to cooperate with its investigation and failure to provide sufficient proof of loss.

In May 2016, Rosenthal sued Allstate in Louisiana state court for breach of contract, negligent claims handling, negligent misrepresentation, bad-faith claims handling in violation of Louisiana Statutes § 22:1973 and § 22:1892, and violations of Louisiana Civil Code Articles 2315, 2316, and 2320. In August 2016, Allstate removed this case to federal court based on diversity jurisdiction. In March 2017, Allstate filed a motion for summary judgment. The district court granted this motion. It reasoned that (1) Rosenthal had not demonstrated that the damage to his RV is a covered loss under the insurance policy and (2) he had not provided Alstate with proof of loss and therefore could not prevail on a bad-faith claim under the Louisiana Statutes. Rosenthal timely appealed.

II.

We review a district court’s grant of summary judgment de novo. Delta & Pine Land Co. v. Nationwide Agribusiness Ins. Co., 530 F.3d 395, 398 (5th Cir. 2008) (citing Wyatt v. Hunt Plywood Co., 297 F.3d 405, 408 (5th Cir. 2002)). Summary judgment is appropriate if “there is no genuine dispute as to any material fact and the movant is entitled to judgment as a matter of law.” Fed. R. Civ. P. 56. “The mere existence of a scintilla of evidence in support of the plaintiffs position will be insufficient; there must be evidence on which the jury could reasonably find for the plaintiff.” Anderson v. Liberty Lobby, Inc., 477 U.S. 242, 252, 106 S.Ct. 2505, 91 L.Ed.2d 202 (1986). Although reasonable inferences are drawn in favor of the non-moving party, we do not “in the absence of any proof, assume that the nonmoving party could or would prove the necessary facts.” Little v. Liquid Air Corp., 37 F.3d 1069, 1075 (6th Cir. 1994) (en banc) (per curiam) (emphasis removed) (citing Lujan v. Nat'l Wildlife Fed’n, 497 U.S. 871, 888, 110 S.Ct. 3177, 111 L.Ed.2d 695 (1990)). Summary judgment is proper if “the non: moving party has failed to make a sufficient showing on an essential element of her case with respect to which she has the burden of proof.” Celotex Corp. v. Catrett, 477 U.S. 317, 323, 106 S.Ct. 2548, 91 L.Ed.2d 265 (1986).

“In a diversity case such as this one, we apply state substantive law.” Wiltz v. Bayer CropScience, Ltd. P’ship, 645 F.3d 690, 695 (5th Cir. 2011) (citing Erie R.R. Co. v. Tompkins, 304 U.S. 64, 78, 58 S.Ct. 817, 82 L.Ed. 1188 (1938)). Here, we apply Louisiana law to determine (1) whether Rosen-thal’s insurance policy covers his type of loss, (2) whether Rosenthal provided sufficient evidence that the covered type of loss actually caused damage to his RV, and (3) whether Rosenthal provided sufficient evidence that Allstate engaged in bad-faith claims handling. 1

The first issue is whether Rosen-thal’s insurance policy covers his type of loss. We conclude that the policy does. Rosenthal alleges that a severe rain event caused damage to his RVs engine. Under Louisiana law, an insurance policy is “subject to the same basic interpretive rules as any other contract.” Doerr v. Mobil Oil Corp., 774 So.2d 119, 123 (La. 2000) (collecting authorities), corrected on reh’g, 782 So.2d 573 (La. 2001). The policy should be construed “in accordance with the general, ordinary, plain and popular meaning of the words used in the policy, unless the words have acquired a technical meaning.” Carbon v. Allstate Ins. Co., 719 So.2d 437, 439-40 (La. 1998) (quoting La. Ins. Guar. Ass’n v. Interstate Fire & Cas. Co., 630 So.2d 759, 763 (1994)) (citing Breland v. Schilling, 550 So.2d 609, 610 (La. 1989)). “The provisions of the contract ‘must be interpreted in light of the other provisions so that each is given the meaning suggested by the contract as a whole.’ ” Naquin v. Elevating Boats, L.L.C., 817 F.3d 235, 239 (5th Cir. 2016) (first citing La. Civ. Code art. 2050; then citing First Am. Bank v. First Am. Transp. Title Ins. Co., 585 F.3d 833

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