Vela v. Breland Insurance Trust (In re A.H. Robins Co.)

210 B.R. 523, 1997 Bankr. LEXIS 980
CourtDistrict Court, E.D. Virginia
DecidedJuly 3, 1997
DocketBankruptcy No. 85-01307-R
StatusPublished
Cited by1 cases

This text of 210 B.R. 523 (Vela v. Breland Insurance Trust (In re A.H. Robins Co.)) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, E.D. Virginia primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Vela v. Breland Insurance Trust (In re A.H. Robins Co.), 210 B.R. 523, 1997 Bankr. LEXIS 980 (E.D. Va. 1997).

Opinion

MEMORANDUM

MERHIGE, District Judge.

This matter is before the Court on the motion of Breland Insurance Trust Claimant Manuel Vela (“Mr. Vela”) styled “Motion For Partial Summary Judgment.” Because Mr. Vela seeks an interpretation of Rule 12.G.3(c) of the Second Amended Rules Governing Alternative Dispute Resolution, the Court will treat his motion as a motion to interpret made pursuant to In re A.H. Robins Co. (Dalkon Shield Claimants Trust v. Honore), 197 B.R. 530 (E.D.Va.1994) (holding that this Court has exclusive jurisdiction to interpret the ADR Rules). The Breland Insurance Trust (the “Trust”) opposes Mr. Vela’s motion. The parties have not asked to be heard on the motion and the matter is ripe for disposition. For the reasons which follow, the Court will deny the motion.

I.

Mr. Vela is a non-user Breland claimant who seeks compensation from the Trust for injuries stemming from his wife’s use of the Daikon Shield.1 Mr. Vela’s wife, Maria Vela (“Mrs. Vela”), filed a timely claim with the Daikon Shield Claimants Trust, which she elected to resolve through Alternative Dispute Resolution (“ADR”). Her hearing was held on May 15, 1995 before Referee Kimberlee K. Kovach. Referee Kovach issued her decision on May 25, 1995, finding that Mrs. Vela had met her burden of proving that she had used the Daikon Shield and that she had suffered injuries caused by the Daikon Shield. Referee Kovach awarded Mrs. Vela $10,000. Movant Ex. A.

Following Mrs. Vela recovery in ADR, Mr. Vela elected to resolve his Breland claim through ADR. In doing so, Mr. Vela and a Trust representative signed an Agreement to Proceed with Alternative Dispute Resolution (the “ADR Agreement”) which provided, in pertinent part:

I understand that the ADR process on my claim shall be conducted as provided in the Second Amended Rules Governing Alternative Dispute Resolution (Rules), which are attached and incorporated into this Agreement, and which I have read, understand and agree to follow.

Trust Ex. A.

The Second Amended Rules Governing Alternative Dispute Resolution (the “ADR [525]*525Rules”) set forth the burden of proof in ADR for the claims of non-users:

A Non-User claimant has the burden of proving each of the following:

a. that the User used a Daikon Shield;
b. that the User was injured;
c. that the User’s injury was caused by the Daikon Shield;
d. that the Non-User claimant was either: (1) legally married to the User at the time of her injury; or (2) is the child of the User;
e. that the Non-User claimant was injured as a result of the User’s injury;
f. that the Non-User claimant should receive compensatory damages for that injury shown in [subsection (e) ]; and
g. the amount of those compensatory damages, if any.

ADR Rule 12.H.2 (“Burden of Proof/Claims By Non-Users”). Rule 12 also sets forth an exclusive list of the types of evidence that the referee may consider, as well as the types of evidence that the referee is prohibited from considering. ADR Rule 12.G. Included in this Rule is the following provision:

The referee shall not consider the following:

c. Decisions or judgments in other Daikon Shield arbitration, litigation, or ADR cases.

ADR Rule 12.G.3 (emphasis in original).

In his motion, Mr. Vela asks that, in light of his wife’s ADR recovery, the Court rule that he is not required to prove the first three elements of his burden of proof: (1) that Mrs. Vela used a Dalkon Shield; (2) that she was injured; and (3) that her injury was caused by the Daikon Shield. The Trust opposes Mr. Vela’s Motion, insisting that Mrs. Vela’s ADR case is another ADR case upon which, under ADR Rule 12.G.3(e), Mr. Vela is not entitled to rely.

II.

This Court has expressly recognized that when an ADR claimant is a non-user, such as a claimant’s husband, that non-user must prove that the Daikon Shield caused his wife’s injury and that her injury caused his injuries. (i.e. loss of consortium). In re A.H. Robins (Dalkon Shield Claimants Trust v. Fleming), 197 B.R. 541, 545 (E.D.Va.1995). Thus, in the absence of a stipulation or some admission by the Trust, a husband claimant bears the burden of proving “double causation.” Id.

In this case, Mr. Vela asks that the Court interpret ADR Rule 12.G.3(c) in a manner which would allow him to introduce the decision from his wife’s ADR case, thus relieving Mr. Vela of his burden of proving double causation. Mr. Vela argues that he is entitled to introduce his wife’s ADR decision because it is not an “other” Daikon Shield ADR case within the meaning of Rule 12.-G.3(c). Mr. Vela suggests that the word “other” in Rule 12.G.3(c) was intended to relieve ADR referees from the impossible burden of evaluating the fact-specific similarities and dissimilarities presented by different Daikon Shield claims. Mr. Vela contends that, with respect to his burden of proving his wife’s injury, Mrs. Vela’s ADR decision “is the same case with the same parties, dealing with the same facts and the same issues.” Mem. at 2-3 (emphasis in original). Accordingly, Mr. Vela maintains that ADR Rule 12.G.3(c) does not apply.

The Court is not persuaded by Mr. Vela’s argument. To begin, the Court notes the conspicuous absence in the ADR Rules of any indication that a non-user claimant may rely on the factual findings from a user’s ADR decision. The ADR Rules clearly contemplate claims by both users and non-users and could have easily provided that the findings from one proceeding are admissible in the other. The Rules do not do so, however. Indeed, they provide for just the opposite through ADR Rule 12.G.3(c).

Additionally, the Court notes that it rejected an argument similar to that presented by Mr. Vela in In re A.H. Robins (Dalkon Shield Claimants Trust v. Fleming), 197 B.R. 541 (E.D.Va.1995). There, the Court considered whether a non-user husband was entitled to introduce evidence of his wife’s [526]*526settlement offer from the Trust in order to meet his burden of proof in ADR. While the Court in Fleming was primarily concerned with the confidentiality of settlement offers from the Trust, the Court held that “[a]s a general principle ... the Trust is fully empowered to challenge causation of a wife’s injuries in her husband’s ADR proceedings.” Id. at 547. Thus, this Court in Fleming recognized a distinction between the claim of a user and that of related non-user. More importantly, the Court acknowledged the Trust’s right in a husband’s ADR hearing to contest the issue of whether his wife’s injuries were caused by the Daikon Shield, regardless of what may have transpired with respect to the wife’s claim. For these reasons, the Court finds that ADR Rule 12.-G.3(c) precludes the introduction of a referee’s decision from a user’s ADR case in a non-user’s ADR proceeding because the decision is that of another Daikon Shield ADR case within the meaning of the rule.

In addition to his argument concerning the proper interpretation of Rule 12.G.3(c), Mr. Vela argues that principles of collateral estoppel dictate that the findings of the referee from Mrs.

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210 B.R. 523, 1997 Bankr. LEXIS 980, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/vela-v-breland-insurance-trust-in-re-ah-robins-co-vaed-1997.