Two's Co. v. Transamerica Insurance

653 F. Supp. 255, 1986 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 19611
CourtDistrict Court, S.D. New York
DecidedOctober 1, 1986
DocketNo. 85 Civ. 9219
StatusPublished
Cited by4 cases

This text of 653 F. Supp. 255 (Two's Co. v. Transamerica Insurance) 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
Two's Co. v. Transamerica Insurance, 653 F. Supp. 255, 1986 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 19611 (S.D.N.Y. 1986).

Opinion

MEMORANDUM AND ORDER

WALKER, District Judge:

INTRODUCTION

Plaintiff Two’s Company (“TC”), a New York corporation, brings this action to enforce an insurance contract with Defendant Transamerica Insurance Company (“Trans-america”), a California corporation and TC’s insurer under an all-risk business, property, and casualty insurance policy.

Plaintiff moves for summary judgment on two of Transamerica’s affirmative defenses. Defendant moves to disqualify plaintiff’s counsel, Samuel D. Rosen, Esq., on the grounds that his testimony at trial would violate Disciplinary Rule 5-102(A). Both parties move for sanctions, pursuant to Fed.R.Civ.P. 11.

Plaintiff’s motion for summary judgment is denied. Defendant’s motion to disqualify plaintiff’s council is granted. Plaintiff’s and defendant’s motions for sanctions are denied.

FACTS

In October 1984, TC discovered an incident of employee theft. TC furnished Transamerica with a pro forma “Bond Proof of Loss” in the sum of $100,000, together with an affidavit signed by TC’s employee Linda Williams, who admitted to the theft. On October 23, 1985, defendant denied payment on the claim, alleging that plaintiff had failed to furnish an itemized loss statement. A few days later, defendant notified plaintiff that the insurance policy would be cancelled, effective December 26, 1985.

TC brought suit in November 1985, seeking compensatory damages of $200,000, as well as punitive damages of $1,000,000. Two of plaintiff’s claims pertained to injuries resulting from defendant’s cancellation of plaintiff’s policy, claims which plaintiff subsequently dropped. The remaining cause arises out of defendant’s refusal to pay the insurance claim related to Williams’ theft.

In addition to a general denial of plaintiff’s claim, defendant offers four affirmative defenses: 1) Plaintiff failed to file a detailed proof of loss statement; 2) Plaintiff accepted $19,000 in restitution from Linda Williams,1 an agreement which discharged defendant from any plaintiff claim; 3) Plaintiff agreed not to prosecute Williams in consideration for the $19,000 she had paid, an agreement which bars plaintiff’s insurance claim; 4) Defendant’s liability for a maximum of $100,000 under the TC insurance policy prevents plaintiff’s recovery of the $1,200,000 damages sought.

Williams has filed no less than five affidavits adding, correcting or supplementing her description of the theft and related events, particularly her payment of $19,000 to plaintiff. In four of these affidavits, Williams either explicitly states or suggests that in return for her $19,000 check, plaintiff agreed that she would not face criminal prosecution for theft. In three of the affidavits, Williams describes the payment as restitution for the money or items she stole. However, in Williams’ third affidavit, dated January 14, 1986, she denied that the $19,000 check constituted restitution, indicating instead that the check was endorsed to the law firm of plaintiff’s attorney Rosen as payment for legal fees. This characterization of the $19,000 “as partial reimbursement of legal, accounting and investigative expenses” is corroborated in an affidavit filed by Rosen.

Williams has stated that since plaintiff first accused her of theft, “Mr. Rosen has been the only person on behalf of Two’s Company that I have spoken, corresponded or dealt with____” Rosen’s affidavit of January 16, 1986 confirms that he has handled all transactions relevant to this litigation between Williams and plaintiff: [257]*257“Everything plaintiff submitted was done by me ... in writing.”

DISCUSSION

Motion for Partial Summary Judgment

Transamerica’s second and third affirmative defenses assert that plaintiffs acceptance of the $19,000 payment from Williams, either as restitution for her theft and/or in return for plaintiffs agreement to forego criminal prosecution, bars plaintiff from collecting on its insurance policy with Transamerica. These defenses are based on the rule that an insured party who settles a claim with a wrongdoer, releasing the wrongdoer from the potential liability arising in a subrogation action brought by an insurer against the wrongdoer, cannot subsequently collect from the insurer. Aetna Casualty & Surety Co. v. Phoenix National Bank & Trust Co., 285 U.S. 209, 214-16, 52 S.Ct. 329, 331-32, 76 L.Ed. 709 (1932); Atlantic Richfield Co. v. Interstate Oil Transport Co., 505 F.Supp. 840, 844 (S.D.N.Y.1981). This rule prevents an insured suffering damage from obtaining a “double recovery” by first collecting a settlement from the wrongdoer, and then proceeding against the insurer on the same claim. Also, by preventing policy collections where an insured party has released a wrongdoer, the rule protects the insurer’s ability to place the costs of damage directly on the wrongdoer. See Coo-perman v. Sunmark Industries Division of Sun Oil Co., 529 F.Supp. 365, 367-68 (S.D.N.Y.1981); Scinta v. Kazmierczak, 59 A.D.2d 313, 316, 399 N.Y.S.2d 545, 548 (4th Dep’t 1977).

Plaintiff’s motion for summary judgment on defendant’s second and third affirmative defenses asserts that Williams’ payment of $19,000 was unrelated to any damage resulting from her theft, but instead constituted payment for attorneys’ fees or some other service. Plaintiff further argues that Williams’ payment of the $19,000 occurred under an “executory accord”: a nonbinding agreement which in no way released Williams from an insurer’s suit for subrogation. See Brink v. Killeen, 48 A.D.2d 823, 823, 368 N.Y.S.2d 547, 549, 550 (2d Dep’t 1975) (statement on check that “[ejndorsement by payee constitutes a receipt and release from the items mentioned on the face of this draft” held “too vague to constitute a binding contract of release”).

A court must render summary judgment where “there is no genuine issue as to any material fact____” Fed.R.Civ.P. 56(c). “When conflicting inferences can be drawn from the facts, however, summary judgment is inappropriate.” Robertson v. Seid-man & Seidman, 609 F.2d 583, 591 (2d Cir.1979).

Such conflicting inferences may indeed be drawn form the facts submitted in the instant case. If Williams endorsed her $19,000 check to plaintiff as payment for some expense unrelated to her theft, as suggested by her January 14, 1986 affidavit, such a payment would in no way bar plaintiff’s insurance claim against defendant. However, if Williams in fact endorsed the $19,000 check as restitution for her theft and in consideration for plaintiff’s promise that she would face no further liability for her theft, such a payment would release Williams from any subrogation claim brought by defendant, and accordingly would prevent plaintiff from recovering on its insurance policy with defendant. See Shepherd v. State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Co., 607 F.Supp. 75, 76 (S.D.Miss.1985); Dancy v. State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Co., 324 F.Supp. 964, 965 (S.D.Ala. 1971) (convenants not to sue held to constitute legally-effective releases barring any subrogation action by insurer).

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Bluebook (online)
653 F. Supp. 255, 1986 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 19611, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/twos-co-v-transamerica-insurance-nysd-1986.