Young Spring & Wire Corp. v. American Guarantee & Liability Insurance

32 F.R.D. 345, 7 Fed. R. Serv. 2d 660, 1963 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 10487
CourtDistrict Court, W.D. Missouri
DecidedFebruary 14, 1963
DocketNos. 13897-4, 13898-4
StatusPublished
Cited by3 cases

This text of 32 F.R.D. 345 (Young Spring & Wire Corp. v. American Guarantee & Liability Insurance) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, W.D. Missouri primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Young Spring & Wire Corp. v. American Guarantee & Liability Insurance, 32 F.R.D. 345, 7 Fed. R. Serv. 2d 660, 1963 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 10487 (W.D. Mo. 1963).

Opinion

BECKER, District Judge.

This action was originally filed in the Circuit Court of Jackson County, Missouri, at Independence. It was removed to this Court on petition of the defendant W. B. Brandt & Co., Inc., a corporation. The plaintiff has filed a motion to remand to the Circuit Court of Jackson County, Missouri. The plaintiff has also filed objections to interrogatories propounded by the defendant W. B. Brandt & Co., Inc.

By stipulation of counsel approved by the Court, the time within which the defendants American Guarantee & Liability Insurance Company and W. B. Brandt & Co., Inc., may file suggestions in opposition to the plaintiff’s motion to remand has been extended to two weeks following the entry by the Court of a ruling upon plaintiff’s objections to interrogatories propounded by W. B. Brandt & Co., Inc., and the filing of answers to said interrogatories, if any are required. Therefore, it would be inappropriate to rule upon the motion to remand until the motion is submitted following the ruling on objections to interrogatories.

[347]*347THE COMPLAINT

In the original petition filed before removal, the plaintiff corporation stated that it was incorporated under the laws of Michigan and had its principal place of business in the State of California. Before removal plaintiff filed a “First Amended Petition” in which it was averred that the location of its principal place of business was in the State of Illinois (plaintiff’s counsel now state that the original averment that its principal place of business was in the State of California was an inadvertent mistake).

The first amended petition avers that the defendant American Guarantee & Liability Insurance Company was incorporated under the laws of the State of New York and had its home office and principal place of business in the State of Illinois.

In Count I of the amended petition the plaintiff seeks to recover from the defendant American Guarantee & Liability Insurance Company upon a comprehensive dishonesty, disappearance and destruction policy insuring the plaintiff against loss through any fraudulent or dishonest acts committed by any of plaintiff’s employees in an amount not to exceed $100,000.

In Count II plaintiff seeks to recover from W. B. Brandt & Co., Inc., and Underwriters at Lloyd’s, London, upon a certificate of insurance providing insurance coverage in the amount of $200,000 in excess of the primary coverage of $100,-000 referred to in Count I, against loss by reason of the dishonesty of any or all of its employees. In this count it is charged that W. B. Brandt & Co., Inc., executed on behalf of the Underwriters at Lloyd’s the certificate of insurance issued for the Underwriters at Lloyd’s and caused it to be delivered to the plaintiff, agreeing and warranting to the plaintiff that the Underwriters at Lloyd’s would indemnify plaintiff against loss sustained by reason of the dishonesty of any or all of its employees. It is further stated therein that Lloyd’s are contending that under the terms of their undertaking with W. B. Brandt & Co., Inc., no indemnity need be paid because (1) plaintiff’s dishonest employees failed to realize pecuniary gain from their acts of dishonesty, and (2) that the primary insurer, American Guarantee & Liability Insurance Company has refused to recognize its liability as primary carrier. It is further charged therein that no such express exemptions from liability are provided for in the certificate issued by W. B. Brandt for Lloyd’s, and that if the Underwriters at Lloyd’s did so limit their undertaking with respect to the certificate, then W. B. Brandt & Co. has misrepresented the nature of the undertaking of Lloyd’s, has warranted the nature of the undertaking of Lloyd’s, and is liable for breach of representation and warranty.

This claim against W. B. Brandt & Co., Inc., is, in effect, a hypothetical or alternative claim which is permissible under Rule 8(e) (2) of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure.

In this count it is averred that W. B. Brandt & Co., Inc., is a corporation organized under the laws of the State of California and having its principal office in the State of California. There is no averment about the residence of the individual underwriters at Lloyd’s except the description of the group as “Underwriters at Lloyd's, London.” There is no claim by any of the parties that the Underwriters at Lloyd’s or any of them have their residence or domicile in any of the United States.

In Count III of the amended petition, the plaintiff seeks recovery against Underwriters at Lloyd’s upon a second certificate executed on behalf of Lloyd’s by W. B. Brandt & Co., Inc., providing insurance coverage in the amount of $200,-000 in excess of $300,000 for all such loss as the plaintiff may sustain by reason of the dishonesty of any or all of its employees. In Count III, as in Count II, it is charged that the Underwriters at Lloyd’s are claiming that under the terms of their undertaking with W. B. Brandt [348]*348& Co., Inc., no indemnity need be paid upon the certificate (1) because plaintiff’s dishonest employees did not realize any pecuniary gains from the acts of dishonesty, and (2) for the reason that defendant American Guarantee & Liability Insurance Company has refused to recognize its liability as primary carrier. As in Count II it is averred that no such express exemptions from indemnity are provided for by the certificate; that if in fact the Underwriters at Lloyd’s did so limit their undertaking with respect to the certificate as they claim, then the defendant W. B. Brandt & Co., Inc., has incorrectly warranted and represented the true nature of the undertaking to the plaintiff and is liable for breach of its representations, warranties and its agreement to procure indemnity according to the tenor of the certificate actually issued.

In each of the counts it is averred as a predicate of liability that during the years 1959 and 1960 the plaintiff’s equipment division employees dishonestly shipped numerous items of equipment totaling approximately $1,000,000 invoice price to purported buyers contrary to plaintiff’s policy and method of doing business, and falsified the record to reflect bona fide sales, when in fact no such sales had been made. It is claimed that these acts were fraudulent and dishonest and covered by the policies and certificates of insurance involved in the three separate counts.

THE INTERROGATORIES, OBJECTIONS AND RULINGS

Defendant W. B. Brandt & Co., Inc., has propounded to the plaintiff 30 numbered interrogatories.

The first objection is to paragraphs (a) to (h) inclusive of Interrogatory No. 5. This interrogatory seeks the name and business address of directors and officers of plaintiff’s corporation. Plaintiff objects that the information sought is irrelevant and that the interrogatory does not specify by dates or otherwise the years concerning which the information is sought. In the absence of any specification, the interrogatories should be construed to seek current information as of the time the interrogatories are propounded and as of the time the interrogatories are answered. So construed, the inquiry appears to be relevant, and plaintiff’s objection to paragraphs (a) to (h) inclusive of Interrogatory No. 5 will be overruled.

The second objection is to Interrogatories No. 8 to 11, inclusive, and Interrogatories No.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
32 F.R.D. 345, 7 Fed. R. Serv. 2d 660, 1963 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 10487, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/young-spring-wire-corp-v-american-guarantee-liability-insurance-mowd-1963.