American Family Mutual Ins. Co v. St. Louis Heart Center, Inc.
Opinion
*1079 American Family Mutual Insurance Company ("American Family") filed a complaint for declaratory judgment against its insured, Vein Centers for Excellence, Inc. ("Vein Centers"), disputing American Family's duty under certain policies to defend and indemnify Vein Centers in a class action lawsuit. St. Louis Heart Center, Inc. ("St. Louis Heart") was the class representative in the underlying suit against Vein Centers and was later joined as a defendant in the declaratory action. The district court 1 concluded American Family's insurance policies did not cover the claims against Vein Centers in the class action lawsuit and awarded summary judgment in favor of American Family. On appeal, St. Louis Heart argues that subject matter jurisdiction is lacking and that summary judgment in favor of American Family was improper. We affirm.
I. Background
In 2011, St. Louis Heart filed a class action petition against Vein Centers for sending unsolicited advertisements via facsimile to multiple recipients, alleging a violation of the Telephone Consumer Protection Act ("TCPA"),
The merits of the class action are not the subject of this appeal. Rather, the issue presented is whether the insurance policies of Vein Centers obligated its insurance provider, American Family, to defend and indemnify the lawsuit.
Vein Centers tendered the lawsuit to American Family for defense and indemnification under two insurance policies: a Businessowners Policy and a Commercial Liability Umbrella Policy. American Family agreed to provide a defense to Vein Centers subject to a full reservation of rights.
Both policies contained an exclusion for the "Distribution of Material in Violation of Statutes." Under the Businessowners Policy, 3 the relevant portion of this exclusion barred coverage for:
"Bodily injury", "property damage", or "personal and advertising injury" arising directly or indirectly out of any action or omission that violates or is alleged to violate:
(1) The Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA), including any amendment of or addition to such law[.]
In 2015, American Family filed a complaint for declaratory judgment seeking a declaration that coverage did not exist for the claims alleged in the underlying lawsuit. American Family later amended its complaint in 2016, adding St. Louis Heart as an additional defendant.
St. Louis Heart moved to dismiss the declaratory action, claiming the district court lacked subject matter jurisdiction because the amount in controversy did not
*1080
exceed $75,000 as required for diversity jurisdiction under
The parties filed cross-motions for summary judgment in 2017. American Family argued that neither the Business nor Umbrella policies provided coverage for the TCPA claim in part because both explicitly excluded coverage for violations of the TCPA. St. Louis Heart conceded the TCPA exclusion was enforceable under the Umbrella Policy. However, St. Louis Heart contended the exclusion in the Businessowners Policy never took effect because American Family failed to properly notify Vein Centers of the provision's addition when the policy was renewed. On this basis, St. Louis Heart argued Missouri law dictated it was entitled to indemnification under the Businessowners Policy.
The district court awarded summary judgment in favor of American Family. St. Louis Heart timely appealed both the district court's denial of its motion to dismiss for lack of subject matter jurisdiction and the district court's summary judgment order.
II. Discussion
We begin our discussion with the jurisdictional question raised in St. Louis Heart's motion to dismiss.
A. Subject Matter Jurisdiction
Subject matter jurisdiction of the district courts where based on diversity of citizenship of the parties is governed by
St. Louis Heart argues the district court lacked subject matter jurisdiction under
Typically, complaints need only allege the jurisdictional amount in good faith and will be dismissed only if it "appear[s] to a legal certainty that the claim is really for less than the jurisdictional amount."
Scottsdale
,
"[T]he amount in controversy is measured by the value to the plaintiff of the right sought to be enforced."
Federated Mut. Ins. Co. v. Moody Station & Grocery
,
Application of the foregoing legal standards convinces us the district court did not err in concluding American Family satisfied its burden of establishing the minimum amount in controversy for the reasons set forth below.
"In a declaratory judgment action such as this one, wherein an insurer sues an insured to determine its obligation to defend and indemnify, the amount in controversy ... ordinarily equals the probable costs of defense and indemnification of the underlying litigation less any applicable deductible."
Scottsdale
,
On appeal, St. Louis Heart does not argue the potential indemnification was inaccurately calculated. Instead, it argues the cost of indemnification was only arrived at by improperly aggregating the claims of all the class plaintiffs. It is true that the class members here cannot aggregate the indemnification value of their claims to satisfy diversity jurisdiction. "[W]here [plaintiffs'] interests are distinct, and their only relationship is that 'they form a class of parties whose rights or liabilities arose out of the same transaction, or have a relation to a common fund or mass or property sought to be administered, such distinct demands or liabilities cannot be aggregated.' "
Crenshaw v. Great Cent. Ins. Co.
,
*1082
Meridian Sec. Ins. Co. v. Sadowski
,
American Family relies only on its own potential indemnification liability and defense costs to satisfy the jurisdictional threshold, which distinguishes this case from the various cases cited by St. Louis Heart.
6
As our sister circuit explained, "the anti-aggregation rule does not apply to a federal declaratory-judgment action between a single plaintiff and a single defendant, just because the unitary controversy between these parties reflects the sum of many smaller controversies. No more need be said on this subject."
Meridian
,
Subject matter jurisdiction over this action was proper under
B. Summary Judgment
We next address St. Louis Heart's argument that summary judgment in favor of American Family was improper. The district court granted summary judgment after concluding the "Distribution of Material in Violation of Statutes" provision was a valid exclusion from the Businessowners Policy. St. Louis Heart appeals this conclusion, arguing the exclusion constituted a constructive nonrenewal of the Businessowners Policy, for which American Family failed to provide notice. American Family does not dispute their obligation to provide notice of the constructive nonrenewal. Instead, they claim they sufficiently demonstrated compliance with the notice obligation. We agree.
"We ... review de novo the district court's resolution of cross-motions for summary judgment viewing the evidence in the light most favorable to the nonmoving party and giving the nonmoving party the benefit of all reasonable inferences."
Fed. Ins. Co. v. Great Am. Ins. Co.
,
Under Missouri law, which both parties agree controls in this diversity case, "[n]o notice of nonrenewal of a commercial casualty insurance policy shall be effective unless mailed or delivered by the insurer to the named insured at least sixty days prior to the effective date of the nonrenewal."
*1083
Missouri law recognizes a presumption as to receipt of mailed materials. Specifically, "[t]here is a presumption that a letter duly mailed has been received by the addressee."
Ins. Placements, Inc. v. Utica Mut. Ins. Co.
,
In light of this legal framework, American Family is entitled to the presumption that Vein Centers received notice of the policy exclusion. To establish compliance with the notice requirements under Missouri law, American Family offered the deposition testimony of Ms. Deborah Woodcock, one of its corporate representatives. Ms. Woodcock testified that American Family mailed a Coverage Summary Letter ("CSL") to Vein Centers more than sixty days prior to the Businessowners Policy renewal date. Ms. Woodcock further testified that it was American Family's standard business practice to include with the CSL a Policyholder Communication ("PLC"), which is a notification of changes made to an insured's policy. Ms. Woodcock went on to identify an internal communication sent to American Family agents and staff, which indicated current holders of the Businessowners Policy would be sent a PLC notification setting forth the newly instituted "Distribution of Material in Violation of Statutes" exclusion. While Ms. Woodcock could not produce an actual copy of this PLC addressed to Vein Centers, her testimony established it was likely mailed to Vein Centers as part of American Family's custom and procedure of transacting business. This evidence creates the presumption that Vein Centers received notice of the exclusion.
The presumption of a letter's receipt is not unassailable. When a purported sender presents evidence that a letter was mailed, the presumption of receipt "may be rebutted by evidence it was not, in fact, received."
St. Louis Heart failed to submit any evidence which would indicate Vein Centers did not, in fact, receive the CSL and PLC. Instead, St. Louis Heart argues Ms. Woodcock's testimony was insufficient to establish the presumption of receipt in the first place. It highlights the lack of definitive proof that the PLC was sent and notes that Ms. Woodcock did not personally send the documents and lacks personal knowledge as to whether the documents were sent. But Missouri law does not require direct proof or personal knowledge of mailing; only "evidence of the settled custom and usage of the sender in the regular and systematic transaction of its business."
Flint
,
*1084 Summary judgment in favor of American Family was proper because St. Louis Heart has not provided any evidence that adequate notice of the exclusion was not provided to Vein Centers.
III. Conclusion
We affirm both the district court's finding of jurisdiction and its summary judgment order in favor of American Family. 7
The Honorable Jean C. Hamilton, United States District Judge for the Eastern District of Missouri.
The class action petition also included claims for common law conversion and violations of the Missouri Merchandising Practices Act, which were voluntarily dismissed.
The Umbrella Policy contained a substantially similar exclusion.
When deciding a motion to dismiss under Fed. R. Civ. P. 12(b)(6), courts typically look only to the pleadings and determine whether they state a plausible claim for relief.
See
,
e.g.
,
Ashcroft v. Iqbal
,
The Businessowners Policy contained a liability limit of $2,000,000 per occurrence and/or $4,000,000 in the aggregate, and the Umbrella Policy contained a liability limit of up to $1,000,000.
See
Crenshaw,
We grant American Family's motion to supplement its Supplemental Appendix.
Reference
- Full Case Name
- AMERICAN FAMILY MUTUAL INSURANCE COMPANY, Plaintiff - Appellee v. VEIN CENTERS FOR EXCELLENCE, INC., Defendant St. Louis Heart Center, Inc., Defendant - Appellant
- Cited By
- 43 cases
- Status
- Published