Westcott v. Thomas

819 F. Supp. 1056, 1993 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 5664, 1993 WL 138279
CourtDistrict Court, M.D. Florida
DecidedApril 20, 1993
DocketNo. 91-319-CIV-T-17C
StatusPublished
Cited by1 cases

This text of 819 F. Supp. 1056 (Westcott v. Thomas) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, M.D. Florida primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Westcott v. Thomas, 819 F. Supp. 1056, 1993 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 5664, 1993 WL 138279 (M.D. Fla. 1993).

Opinion

ORDER ON MOTIONS FOR SUMMARY JUDGMENT

KOVACHEVICH, District Judge.

Before this Court for consideration are the Defendant, Pat Crow-Segal’s Motion For Summary Judgment (Dkt. # 59), and Memorandum Of Law in Support of Motion For Summary Judgment (Dkt. # 60); Defendants, M.L. Vaughn and Reinecke Agency, Inc., d/b/a Dealers Association Plan’s Motion For Summary Judgment (Dkt. # 94), and Memorandum Of Law In Support Of Defendants’ Motion For Summary Judgment (Dkt. # 95); Defendants George Thomas’s, et al. Motion For Summary Judgment (Dkt. #101), and Memorandum Of Law In Support Of Motion For Summary Judgment (Dkt. # 102); and Response by Defendants, M.L. Vaughn and Reinecke Agency, Inc., d/b/a Dealers Association Plan to Defendants’ George Thomas et al. Motion For Summary Judgment. (Dkt. # 104).

STANDARD OF REVIEW

This Circuit clearly holds that summary judgment should only be entered when the moving party has sustained its burden of showing the absence of a genuine issue as to any material fact when all the evidence is viewed in the light most favorable to the nonmoving party. Sweat v. The Miller Brewing Co., 708 F.2d 655 (11th Cir.1983). All doubt as to the existence of a genuine issue of material fact must be resolved against the moving party. Hayden v. First National Bank of Mt. Pleasant, 595 F.2d 994, 996-97 (5th Cir.1979), quoting Gross v. Southern Railway Co., 414 F.2d 292 (5th Cir.1969). Factual disputes preclude summary judgment.

The Supreme Court of the United States held, in Celotex Corp. v. Catrett, 477 U.S. 317, 106 S.Ct. 2548, 91 L.Ed.2d 265 (1986),

In our view the plain language of Rule 56(c) mandates the entry of summary judgment, after adequate time for discovery and upon motion, against a party who fails to establish the existence of an element essential to that party’s case, and on which that party will bear the burden of proof at trial. Id. at 322,106 S.Ct. at 2552.

The Court also stated that Rule 56(e) requires that the nonmoving party go beyond the pleadings and its own affidavits, and, through depositions, answers to interrogatories, and admissions in the case, identify specific facts in order to show that there is a genuine issue for trial. Celotex Corp. at p. 324, 106 S.Ct. at p. 2553.

STATEMENT OF FACTS

The Plaintiff, Bryan Westcott (“Westcott”) was a participant and beneficiary of the Florida Auto Dismantlers & Recyelers Association Member Employer, Employee Health and Welfare Benefit Plan (“the Plan”) at all times relevant to this litigation.

The Defendants have been named in this action by the Plaintiff, individually and in their capacities as Trustees, Directors, and/or Fiduciaries of the Plan. The Plaintiff, in his Amended Complaint, sets forth four claims of breach of fiduciary duty against all named Defendants.

On October 11, 1983, The Plan was licensed by the State of Florida, through the Department of Insurance, to operate as a Multiple-Employer Welfare Arrangement (MEWA) within the State of Florida, pursuant to Fla.Stat. §§ 624.436 — 624.44. The Plan continued to operate in this capacity until its liquidation by the Florida Department of Insurance in November of 1988.

During the period from 1980 through 1986, Plaintiff regularly engaged in race car driving on weekends, competing for cash purses ranging from Seventy-Five Dollars ($75.00) to Eight Hundred Dollars ($800.00). Additionally, Plaintiff included the profits and losses he incurred through race car driving in his U.S. Income Tax returns for the years 1982 through 1986.

On or about August 16, 1986, Plaintiff was engaged in driving a race car in a sanctioned automobile race at the Sunshine Speedway. While participating in the race, Plaintiff was involved in an accident in which he suffered severe physical injuries. During the course [1059]*1059of treatment for his injuries, the Plaintiff incurred certain medical and hospital expenses.

Plaintiff subsequently submitted a claim to the Plan seeking reimbursement of the medical and hospital expenses he incurred as a result of the accident. The Plan Administrator reviewed and denied Plaintiffs claim, based upon an exclusion provision within the Plan documents excluding participants from coverage for any bodily injury or illness arising out of, or in the course of, any employment for compensation or profit. The Plan Administrators deemed the Plaintiffs participation in automobile racing for cash purses to be employment for compensation or profit within the meaning of the Plan exclusion provision.

Plaintiff appealed the Plan Administrator’s determination of denial to the Board of Trustees of the Plan. The Board sustained the determination of the Plan Administrator.

In March of 1987, after the Board of Trustees’ affirmation of the Plan Administrator’s denial, Plaintiff filed suit against the Plan in the Circuit Court in and for Pinellas County, Florida, seeking a determination that the Plan Administrators and Board of Trustees wrongfully denied his claim.

On March 21, 1989, Plaintiff obtained a Partial Summary Judgment Order against the Plan, finding that the Plan arbitrarily and capriciously denied the Plaintiffs claim for medical benefits.

During the pendency of the Pinellas County litigation, on or about November 4, 1988, the Circuit Court in and for Leon County entered its Amended Order of Liquidation and Injunction, as a result of a Petition filed by the Florida Department of Insurance, seeking liquidation of the Plan. The Order dissolved the existence of the Plan and provided for an automatic stay prohibiting the commencement or continuance of any judicial action against the Plan, or the enforcement of any judgment against the Plan, pursuant to Section 631.041(1), Florida Statutes. The Amended Order of Liquidation and Injunction also provided a deadline for claims to be filed with the Receiver, on or before November 30, 1989.

In compliance with the Amended Order of Liquidation and Injunction, Plaintiff filed his claim with the Florida Department Of Insurance, Division of Rehabilitation and Liquidation, on November 22, 1989, setting forth the Pinellas County Circuit Court judgment. The Department of Insurance denied Westcott’s claim. Plaintiff never filed an objection to the claim denial with the Florida Department of Insurance, nor did he file a subsequent appeal of the Leon County Circuit Court’s Final Order approving the denial of the Plaintiffs claim. The filing of an objection, and a subsequent filing of appeal, would have been the correct procedural steps to take in order to continue to pursue the claim through the liquidation proceeding.

In March of 1991 the Plaintiff filed this action under Sections 409(a) and 502(a)(3) of the Employee Benefit Income Security Act of 1974, (“ERISA”), 29 U.S.C.

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

Related

Butterworth v. Quick & Reilly, Inc.
998 F. Supp. 1404 (M.D. Florida, 1998)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
819 F. Supp. 1056, 1993 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 5664, 1993 WL 138279, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/westcott-v-thomas-flmd-1993.