Dueringer v. General American Life Ins. Co., 86-4929

• Decision Date: 15 April 1988
• Docket Number: No. 86-4929,86-4929
• Citation: 842 F.2d 127
• Parties: Randall G. DUERINGER, Plaintiff-Appellee, v. GENERAL AMERICAN LIFE INSURANCE COMPANY, Defendant-Appellant.
• Court: U.S. Court of Appeals — Fifth Circuit

Page 127

842 F.2d 127

Randall G. DUERINGER, Plaintiff-Appellee, v. GENERAL AMERICAN LIFE INSURANCE COMPANY, Defendant-Appellant.

No. 86-4929.

United States Court of Appeals, Fifth Circuit.

April 15, 1988.

Whitman B. Johnson, III, Steen, Reynolds, Dalehite & Currie, Jackson, Miss., for defendant-appellant.

Richard C. Roberts, III, James W. Nobles, Jr., Jackson, Miss., for plaintiff-appellee.

Appeal from the United States District Court for the Southern District of Mississippi.

Before THORNBERRY, POLITZ and JOLLY, Circuit Judges.

E. GRADY JOLLY, Circuit Judge:

Randall Dueringer brought this case alleging breach of contract and bad-faith denial of his insurance claim against General American Life Insurance Company ("General American") under a group policy of his former employer. The jury awarded Dueringer $5,852.18 in actual damages and $360,000 in punitive damages. The central issue on appeal concerns General American's conduct in denying coverage under an extended medical benefits provision in its policy that required Dueringer to be continuously disabled from the date of the covered injury until the time the claim arose.

I

Dueringer was hired in November 1981 by Richardson Equipment Company ("Richardson"), a company selling swimming pools and related equipment. While at Richardson, Dueringer worked as a salesman, and on infrequent occasions helped construct the pools that he sold. His employment at Richardson came to an abrupt end on November 11, 1982, when he suffered serious injuries to his knee and nose in an automobile accident. The accident left Dueringer temporarily unable to work, and he began receiving disability and major medical payments under his employee insurance plan. The payments continued until May 1, 1983, when Richardson discharged Dueringer and notified General American to remove him from their policy.

Dueringer attempted to obtain work in the swimming pool business from other builders and pool suppliers. Although he still did some intermittent work, he testified that he was unable to perform his regular work because of his continued knee problems. He also was unable to sell pools because his nose was severely disfigured from the accident. Because of his continued physical impairments, Dueringer asked General American whether reconstructive surgery on his knee and nose would be covered by his former insurance policy. In response to the claims agent's questions, he said that he could walk and work. Thus he was informed that the operations would not be covered because he was not "totally disabled." Nevertheless, in September 1983, Dueringer had the surgery performed and then sought payment from General American. Upon receipt of Dueringer's claim for $5,852.17 in January 1984, General American immediately denied the claim because their file records did not indicate "total disability." It is undisputed that because Dueringer had been removed from the group policy in May 1983, the only coverage for which he possibly qualified was under the extended benefits provision, which allowed for payment of medical expenses to claimants who had been continuously "disabled" from an injury incurred while the policy was in force. The insurance policy defined "disabled" as "unable to perform regular work because of injury or sickness" (emphasis added).

After General American's initial denial of coverage, Dueringer had no further contact with General American, but on April 27, 1984, his attorney wrote a letter to General American requesting payment. General American reopened the case and a claims officer wrote Dr. Elmer Nix, Dueringer's physician, and asked if Dueringer had been "totally disabled." Nix replied that Dueringer was probably able to return to work "sometime between 4 April 1983 and 23 June 1983." General American also asked Richardson personnel whether Dueringer was "totally disabled" and was told that they had no records to indicate that Dueringer was totally disabled after May 1, 1983. On September 11, 1984, General American informed Dueringer that his operations were not covered under the policy because their investigation showed that he was not disabled from his prior injury at the time of his operations. Dueringer did not provide any information to General American indicating that he was disabled, but rather filed suit in federal district court, alleging breach of contract and bad-faith denial of insurance benefits.

At trial, the jury found for Dueringer in the amount of $5,852.18 in actual damages and $360,000 in punitive damages. General American then filed a motion for judgment notwithstanding the verdict, which was denied.

II

On appeal, General American raises three major contentions. First, General American asserts that ERISA preempts this state common law action. Second, it argues that there is no evidence to support a punitive damages award. Finally, the company challenges the breach of contract award of actual damages because the evidence indicates that Dueringer was not disabled at the time of the claims and hence not covered by the extended benefits provision of the policy.

A.

On April 6, 1987, the Supreme Court decided Pilot Life Insurance Co. v. Dedeaux, --- U.S. ----, 107 S.Ct. 1549, 95 L.Ed.2d 39 (1987) ("Dedeaux II "), holding that ERISA preempts state common law actions that involve certain employee benefit plans. Dedeaux II reversed the Fifth Circuit holding in Dedeaux v. Pilot Life Insurance Co., 770 F.2d 1311 (5th Cir.1986) ("Dedeaux I "), which was decided approximately eleven months after this litigation commenced. General American now maintains that Dedeaux II requires application of the preemption doctrine to this case.

In addressing this issue, we must first decide whether this defense was waived because General American failed to raise it at trial. General American argues that it was precluded from asserting preemption until now because of the Fifth Circuit's decision in Dedeaux I, which held such claims were not preempted.

Dueringer responds to this argument with two Ninth Circuit cases that hold that where preemption involves a choice-of-law question, as in the present case, it must be asserted as an affirmative defense. Johnson v. Armored Transport of California, Inc., 813 F.2d 1041, 1043-44 (9th Cir.1987); Gilchrist v. Jim Slemons Imports, Inc., 803 F.2d 1488, 1497 (9th Cir.1986). Dueringer argues that since General American failed to raise this affirmative defense in a timely manner, the issue is not before us.

We agree that General American cannot now claim the preemption defense. First, preemption in this case clearly involves a choice-of-law question and therefore must be asserted as an affirmative defense. See Johnson, 813 F.2d at 1043-44; Gilchrist, 803 F.2d at 1497. General American's contention that it was specifically precluded from pleading preemption as a defense because of this court's decision in Dedeaux I is disingenuous. Dedeaux I was not decided until eleven months after General American's answer was due. Thus, even if Dedeaux I could excuse the failure to assert the defense, which we do not hold, it was not a bar to the defense when General American filed its only answer; nor did it seek to raise the defense while Dedeaux I was pending before the Supreme Court. It has therefore neglected this legal defense too long to raise the issue first on appeal.

B.

We now turn to the award of punitive damages. General American contends that the evidence does not support a jury instruction on the issue of bad-faith...