Penn-America Ins. Co. v. White Pines, Inc.
Penn-America Ins. Co. v. White Pines, Inc.
Opinion of the Court
This matter is before the Court on a motion filed by Defendant-Intervenor Bryan Polli ("Polli") to set aside the entry of default against Defendant White Pines, Inc. doing business as L.A.'s Night Club ("White Pines"), which has not appeared in the matter. For the reasons stated below, Polli's Motion to Set Aside Entry of Default is DENIED. In addition, Plaintiff Penn-America Insurance Company ("Penn-America") is ordered to show cause within ten (10) days after the entry of this Order as to why the Court should exercise jurisdiction over this matter.
I. FACTUAL AND PROCEDURAL HISTORY
The Court assumes the parties' familiarity with the underlying facts and procedural history as set forth by the memorandum opinion from the Richmond Division of the Court granting the motions to intervene and transfer venue. Penn-America Insurance Company v. White Pines, Inc. d/b/a L.A.'s Night Club, No. 3:18cv650,
Polli worked as a manager at L.A.'s Night Club in Virginia Beach; L.A.'s Night Club is owned and operated by White Pines. Id. at *1. Polli purportedly suffered injuries following an altercation at the club *648on March 22, 2016. Id.; State Court Complaint, ECF No. 1-1, Ex. A ¶ 12.
On March 22, 2018, Polli filed a lawsuit in the Circuit Court for the City of Virginia Beach against White Pines. Penn-America Insurance Company,
On September 24, 2018, Penn-America filed its own declaratory judgment action against White Pines in this Court's Richmond Division. Compl., ECF No. 1. Penn-America seeks a declaration that it has no duty to defend or indemnify White Pines. Penn-America Insurance Company,
White Pines was properly served with the summons and Complaint under Virginia Code §§ 8.01-299(3) and 8.01-296(2) (b) as permitted under Fed. R. Civ. P. 4(h) (1) (A), which permits service on corporations following state law in the state where the district court is located or where service is made. ECF No. 5. White Pines failed to respond to the Complaint by October 29, 2018. Penn-America Insurance Company,
On December 5, 2018, Polli filed a Motion to Intervene, a Motion to Transfer, and the Motion to Set Aside Entry of Default. Id.; ECF Nos. 9-11. Polli attached to the Motion to Intervene a Proposed Answer and Counterclaim. Penn-America Insurance Company,
Penn-America responded to the Motion to Transfer and the Motion to Set Aside Entry of Default, but did not file a response to the Motion to Intervene. Penn-America Insurance Company,
II. DISCUSSION
A. Vacating Entry of Default
The instant motion presents an unusual procedural question that only a *649handful of courts have addressed (and the parties' briefs ignore). Polli's motion to intervene was granted; he now seeks to vacate the entry of default against his co-defendant, White Pines. It is unclear whether a defendant-intervenor like Polli has standing to challenge the entry of default on behalf of the defaulting defendant. It is true that the text of Fed. R. Civ. P. 55(c) is silent on which party may move to set aside a default. See Fed. R. Civ. P. 55(c). However, the few courts that have found that a non-defaulting defendant has standing to seek to set aside an entry of default on behalf of a defaulting co-defendant require a close relationship between those defendants. See In re Uranium Antitrust Litig.,
In any event, even if Polli had standing to challenge the entry of default against White Pines, the practical result would be the same. In Frow v. De La Vega, the Supreme Court explained that in a multi-defendant case where there is an entry of default against only one defendant, the proper course of action is to permit the non-defaulting parties to litigate the case while holding the entry of default in abeyance and deferring any final default judgment against the defaulting defendant.
Further, "[a]lthough the rule developed in the Frow case applies when the liability is joint and several, it probably can be extended to situations in which joint liability is not at issue but several defendants have closely related defenses. When that is the case, entry of judgment also should *650await an adjudication of the liability of the nondefaulting defendants." 10A Charles Alan Wright & Arthur R. Miller, Federal Practice & Procedure § 2690 (4th ed. 2019) ; see also 10 Moore's Federal Practice - Civil § 55.36 (2019) ("Frow stands for the narrow rule that a default judgment may not be entered against one of several defendants ... when the nature of the relief demanded is such that, in order to be effective, it must be granted against each and every defendant.... The Frow rule seeks to prevent inconsistent judgments in cases involving joint liability or joint remedies. Some courts have interpreted Frow more broadly to apply when defendants are 'similarly situated,' even if not jointly liable. Thus, when defendants are 'similarly situated[,]' judgment should not be entered against a defaulting defendant if the other defendant prevails on the merits.") (emphasis added); see, e.g., Marshall & Ilsley Tr. Co. v. Pate,
This is a case where the defendants are similarly situated, and the Court must avoid logically inconsistent judgments. U. S. for Use of Hudson,
For the reasons explained above, Polli's motion to set aside the entry of default is denied because of 1) Polli's lack of standing to bring a motion to set aside the entry of default against White Pines, a co-defendant that is not closely linked to Polli, and 2) the Supreme Court's decision in Frow, which precludes a final default judgment and permits the non-defaulting parties to proceed with the litigation. However, because of the unique procedural posture of this case presented by the apparent race to the courthouse between Penn-America and Polli, the Court feels compelled to address the obvious abstention issues raised by such a race to the courthouse.
B. Declaratory Judgment Jurisdiction
This declaratory judgment action was filed pursuant to
*651any court of the United States, upon the filing of an appropriate pleading, may declare the rights and other legal relations of any interested party seeking such declaration, whether or not further relief is or could be sought. Any such declaration shall have the force and effect of a final judgment or decree and shall be reviewable as such.
Although the parties have not addressed the issue of whether the Court should exercise jurisdiction over this matter, a district court's power to raise issues of abstention from jurisdiction sua sponte is well-settled. Louisiana Power & Light Co. v. City of Thibodaux,
(i) the strength of the state's interest in having the issues raised in the federal declaratory action decided in the state courts; (ii) whether the issues raised in the federal action can more efficiently be resolved in the court in which the state action is pending; (iii) whether permitting the federal action to go forward would result in unnecessary entanglement between the federal and state court systems, because of the presence of overlapping issues of fact or law; and (iv) whether the declaratory judgment action is being used merely as a device for "procedural fencing"-that is, to provide another forum in a race for res judicata or to achieve a federal hearing in a case otherwise not removable.
Mut. Ben. Ins. Co. v. Lorence,
The third factor on entanglement between the state and federal courts because of overlapping issues of fact and law militates against exercising jurisdiction. Penn-America seeks several declarations, which can be categorized as (1) whether Penn-America *652has any duty to defend or indemnify White Pines under the insurance policy (e.g. Compl. ¶ 27(b) ("Penn-America has no duty to defend or indemnify White Pines in connection with the claims asserted in the Lawsuit because Mr. Polli does not allege, and is not seeking damages, because of a 'personal and advertising injury' offense as that term is defined in the Policy [.]")), and (2) whether Penn-America has any duty to defend or indemnify White Pines in relation to the Virginia worker's compensation scheme (e.g. Compl. ¶ 27(d) ("Penn-America has no duty to defend or indemnify White Pines in connection with the claims asserted in the Lawsuit because the Virginia Worker's Compensation Act, Va. Ann. Code §§ 65.2-100, et seq., provides the exclusive remedy for Mr. Polli's damages.")).
The Fourth Circuit has found that district courts should not decline to assert jurisdiction over cases where an insurer seeks a declaratory judgment that it did not have a duty to defend or indemnify under an insurance policy (i.e. the first category of declarations sought by Penn-America). See Minn. Lawyers Mut. Ins. Co. v. Antonelli, Terry, Stout & Kraus, LLP,
The instant case is different. In addition to seeking declaratory judgment on whether Penn-America has a duty to defend or indemnify under the policy, Penn-America also seeks declarations as to whether it has a duty to defend or indemnify in relation to Virginia's worker's compensation statute. The Court may look solely at the text of the policy and determine, for instance, whether the policy covers worker's compensation. That is, the Court may grant some of the worker's compensation-related declarations sought by Penn-America, e.g. Compl. ¶ 27(d) ("Penn-America has no duty to defend or indemnify White Pines in connection with the claims asserted in the Lawsuit under Coverage A because they are excluded from coverage by the Policy's Workers' Compensation and Similar Laws Exclusion[.]"). However, the Court cannot merely compare the language of the state court complaint in the underlying state tort action with the language of the policy for other declarations sought by Penn-America. For instance, Penn-America asks the Court for a declaration that worker's compensation is the exclusive avenue for Polli to seek relief. Compl. ¶ 27(d). To grant such a declaration, the Court would have to look beyond the allegations in the "four corners" of the Complaint and the general liability insurance policy because the allegations of the state court complaint do not address this issue.
Under Virginia Code § 65.2, a covered employee who is injured may not bring a tort claim against the employer, as the "exclusive remedy is found in the worker's compensation statutes." Napper v. ABM Janitorial Servs.-Mid Atl., Inc.,
Finally, the Court turns to the fourth factor of whether the case is merely "procedural fencing." Unlike the vast majority of cases on this issue, evidence exists on the record that this is the type of race to bring a declaratory judgment in federal rather than state court that the Fourth Circuit sought to prevent by identifying the fourth factor of the Nautilus test. After Penn-America rejected both White Pines' and Polli's demands for coverage, Polli's attorney emailed Penn-America's counsel on September 11, 2018 that Polli would be pursuing a declaratory judgment action, presumably in state court. ECF No. 9, Ex. D. Penn-America then filed the instant action on September 24, 2018 without notice to Polli, and in this Court's Richmond Division. That is, Penn-America raced to file this action in federal court and beat Polli's intended state court action, which also militates against the exercise of jurisdiction.
Because at least two of the Nautilus factors point the Court away from exercising jurisdiction, Plaintiff Penn-America is ordered to show cause why the Court should exercise jurisdiction. If Plaintiff fails to respond, the case may be dismissed without prejudice.
III. CONCLUSION
For the reasons stated above, Defendant's Motion to Set Aside Entry of Default is DENIED, ECF No. 10. In addition, the Court ORDERS Plaintiff to show cause within ten (10) days after the entry of this Order as to whether the Court should assert jurisdiction, and if so, how to proceed with regard to the duty to indemnify in light of the ongoing state court proceedings. Defendant may respond to any submission within seven (7) days of Plaintiff's submission.
IT IS SO ORDERED.
The Supreme Court has overruled Nautilus regarding the standard of review; appellate courts must review a district court's decision to exercise jurisdiction over declaratory judgment actions with the liberal abuse of discretion standard. However, the Nautilus factors remain applicable. Minn. Lawyers Mut. Ins. Co. v. Antonelli, Terry, Stout & Kraus, LLP,
The Court notes, with respect to the second factor, that there is an underlying state court tort claim brought by Polli against White Pines. That the insurer is not a party to a state court claim does not however require asserting jurisdiction. See Aetna Cas. & Sur. Co. v. Ind-Com Elec. Co.,
Polli's counterclaim only seeks declarations that Penn-America has a duty to defend and indemnify under the policy (and does not seek any declarations regarding Virginia's worker's compensation scheme). Counterclaim, ECF No. 1, ¶ 24 ("Mr. Polli, in good faith, requests that the Court declare the following: (a) Penn-America has a duty to defend or indemnify White Pines in connection with the claims asserted in the Lawsuit because Mr. Polli is seeking damages because of 'bodily injury' caused by an 'occurrence' [and] (b) Penn-America has a duty to defend or indemnify White Pines in connection with the claims asserted in the Lawsuit because Mr. Polli is seeking damages for bodily injury resulting from the use of reasonable force to protect persons or property.").
Other courts have also noted the conflict between the Fourth Circuit's decisions in Coffey and Minn. Lawyers with the Circuit's "long history of reluctance when it comes to exercising jurisdiction over declaratory judgment actions involving the indemnification of parties to state court actions." Pennsylvania Nat. Mut. Ins. Co. v. Ely Wall & Ceilings, Inc.,
Reference
- Full Case Name
- PENN-AMERICA INSURANCE COMPANY v. WHITE PINES, INC., d/b/a L.A's Night Club, and Bryan Polli
- Cited By
- 1 case
- Status
- Published