State Farm Mut. Auto. Ins. Co. v. Merrill

353 F. Supp. 3d 835
CourtDistrict Court, D. Maine
DecidedNovember 20, 2018
DocketCase No. 18-cv-00430 (SRN/KMM)
StatusPublished
Cited by8 cases

This text of 353 F. Supp. 3d 835 (State Farm Mut. Auto. Ins. Co. v. Merrill) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, D. Maine primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
State Farm Mut. Auto. Ins. Co. v. Merrill, 353 F. Supp. 3d 835 (D. Me. 2018).

Opinion

SUSAN RICHARD NELSON, United States District Judge

This insurance dispute arises out of a tragic car accident that occurred on Interstate 494 in December of 2016. Three family members died as a result of the accident. One of those family members was a minor, who the Court will call P.B. The Trustee for P.B.'s Estate, Defendant Phillip Merrill ("Merrill"), contends that Plaintiff State Farm Insurance Company ("State Farm") owes the Estate $100,000 in Underinsured Motorist Insurance ("UIM"). State Farm disagrees. Accordingly, State Farm filed a declaratory judgment action seeking a declaration from this Court that Merrill's UIM claim is barred by Minnesota's No-Fault Act. Merrill answered and filed counterclaims of breach of contract and unjust enrichment. State Farm now moves for judgment on the pleadings. It also moves to dismiss Merrill's breach of contract and unjust enrichment counterclaims under Fed. R. Civ. P. 12(b)(6).

After carefully reviewing the record and applicable case law, the Court grants State Farm's motions in full.

I. BACKGROUND

In describing the background of this case, the Court assumes as true the factual allegations in the complaint (and counterclaim) and construes all reasonable inferences from those facts in the light most favorable to the non-moving party. See Great Lakes Gas Transmission Ltd. P'ship v. Essar Steel Minnesota, LLC , 871 F.Supp.2d 843, 851 (D. Minn. 2012) (noting that the same standard applies to motions to dismiss under Rule 12(b)(6) and motions for judgment on the pleadings under Rule 12(c) ). Further, while the Court may consider "materials that are necessarily embraced by the pleadings" in describing the facts of a case in this procedural posture, such as exhibits to a complaint, it "generally must ignore materials outside the pleadings." Id. Here, for instance, though the Court does consider the exhibits attached to the complaint and counterclaim, it does not consider the affidavit submitted by Merrill's counsel alongside his brief in opposition. See Gorog v. Best Buy Co., Inc. , 760 F.3d 787, 791 (8th Cir. 2014) (noting *838that "matters outside the pleadings" include "any written or oral evidence in support of or in opposition to the pleading that provides some substantiation for and does not merely reiterate what is said in the pleadings").1

A. The Parties and Their Insurance Coverage

Although this insurance dispute technically revolves around only two parties - the deceased minor P.B. (through his trustee Merrill) and State Farm - the Court also discusses P.B.'s mother (Dylan Bailey), P.B.'s grandmother (Dawn Chiodo), and the driver of the other vehicle involved in the accident (Patrick Hayes). These three persons, and their respective automobile insurance policies, are central to this litigation.

Dylan Bailey was the mother and sole legal guardian of P.B. (Answer & Countercl. [Doc. No. 29] ¶ 30-31.) Ms. Bailey was the "only named insured" under a State Farm auto policy covering her 2010 Toyota Prius, which was not involved in the accident. (Id. ¶ 48.) Although P.B. was insured as a "resident relative" under this policy, P.B. was not named anywhere on the policy. (Id. ¶¶ 48-50.) This policy carried UIM limits of $100,000 per person and $300,000 per accident. (Compl. [Doc. No. 1], Ex. 1 [Doc. No. 1-1] ("Bailey Policy") at 56.)

Dawn Chiodo was Dylan Bailey's mother and P.B.'s grandmother. (See Answer & Countercl. ¶ 32.) Ms. Chiodo and Ms. Bailey co-leased a residence in Bloomington, Minnesota, where P.B. also resided. (Id. ¶¶ 8, 33-34; Compl. ¶ 20; see also Answer & Countercl. Ex. A (Bailey & Chiodo Lease) at 1).)2 Ms. Chiodo owned and operated a 1998 Jeep Cherokee at the time of the accident. (Compl. ¶ 19.) Further, Ms. Chiodo was a named insured on a policy issued by Geico Insurance Company covering the Jeep ("Chiodo Policy"). The Chiodo Policy provided less generous coverage than her daughter's policy, with UIM limits of only $50,000 per person and $100,000 per accident. (Id. )

Patrick Hayes was the owner and operator of the other vehicle involved in the collision. At the time of the accident, Mr. Hayes was insured under an automobile liability policy through State Farm with bodily injury limits of $100,000 per person and $300,000 per accident ("Hayes Policy"). (Compl. ¶ 18.)

B. Factual History

The salient facts of this case are generally undisputed. On December 2, 2016, Patrick Hayes drove his Chevrolet Malibu eastbound in the westbound lanes of Interstate 494 near Bloomington, Minnesota - "the wrong way and against traffic." (Compl. ¶¶ 15-16.) Dawn Chiodo, carrying a car full of friends and family, approached and then merged her Jeep Cherokee onto westbound I-494. As she did so, Mr. Hayes struck her vehicle "head-on." (Id. ¶ 16.) Tragically, Ms. Chiodo, Ms. Bailey, and P.B. died as a result of the collision. Jennifer and Olivia Nord, the two other passengers in Ms. Chiodo's Jeep, suffered serious injuries (collectively, "Claimants"). (Id. ¶ 17.)

Following the accident, State Farm notified Claimants that it would tender the *839Hayes Policy liability limit of $300,000 in exchange for the release of Mr. Hayes from all wrongful death and personal injury claims. (Id. ¶ 28.) By a Schmidt notice dated August 8, 2017, attorneys representing the trustees for the estates of Ms. Bailey and P.B. notified State Farm of an internal agreement amongst the Claimants regarding the allocation of the $300,000 Hayes Policy limit, as well as the $100,000 Chiodo Policy UIM limit. (Compl., Ex. 2 [Doc. No. 1-2] at 2, 4.)3 Additionally, Merrill gave notice of his intent to seek $100,000 in excess UIM coverage from State Farm under the Bailey Policy. (Compl., Ex. 2 at 2.)

Under the agreed-upon internal settlement, which the parties attached to the Schmidt notice, available funds would be distributed among the Claimants as follows:

Claimants State Farm Geico Chiodo Excess UIM Claimants' (decedents Hayes Policy Policy (Primary Coverage Expected italicized) UIM) Coverage Dawn Chiodo $87,500.00 $50,000.00 $0.00 $137,500.00 P.B. $37,500.00 $0.00 $100,000.00 $137,500.00 (Bailey State Farm Policy) Dylan Bailey $37,500.00 $0.00 $100,000.00 $137,500.00 (Bailey State Farm Policy) Jennifer Nord $37,500.00 $0.00 $100,000.00 $137,500.00 (personal policy) Olivia Nord $100,000.00 $50,000.00 $50,000.00 $200,000.00 (personal policy)

(Answer & Countercl., Ex. C [Doc. No. 29-1] ("Claim Settlement") at 31.)4 Under this agreement, Olivia Nord and the estate of Dawn Chiodo would each recover $50,000 from Chiodo's Policy. The estates of P.B.

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Bluebook (online)
353 F. Supp. 3d 835, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-farm-mut-auto-ins-co-v-merrill-med-2018.