Newin Corp. v. Hartford Acc. & Indem. Co.

• Decision Date: 16 June 1975
• Citation: Newin Corp. v. Hartford Acc. & Indem. Co., 371 N.Y.S.2d 884, 37 N.Y.2d 211, 333 N.E.2d 163 (N.Y. 1975)
• Parties: , 333 N.E.2d 163 NEWIN CORPORATION et al., Respondents, v. HARTFORD ACCIDENT AND INDEMNITY COMPANY et al., Defendants, and Continental Insurance Company et al., Appellants.
• Court: New York Court of Appeals Court of Appeals

Page 884

371 N.Y.S.2d 884

37 N.Y.2d 211, 333 N.E.2d 163

NEWIN CORPORATION et al., Respondents, v. HARTFORD ACCIDENT AND INDEMNITY COMPANY et al., Defendants and Continental Insurance Company et al., Appellants.

Court of Appeals of New York.

June 16, 1975.

Covington Hardee, Joseph J. Santora, Robert B. McKay and Jeffrey C. Ingber, New York City, for appellants.

John A. Stichter, Charles L. Stewart and William M. Bradner, Jr., New York City, for respondents.

FUCHSBERG, Judge.

This action arises out of the infamous 'salad oil swindle' of 1963, involving the collapse of the Allied Crude Vegetable Oil Refining Corporation, which had, among other effects, the bankruptcy of Ira Haupt & Co. (Haupt), a member firm of plaintiff New York Stock Exchange, Inc. (Stock Exchange).

The complaint alleges seven causes of action. The first two, which seek recovery on an excess bond, are not involved here. In the third through seventh causes of action, which are the subject of this appeal, plaintiffs, the Stock Exchange and its wholly-owned subsidiary, Newin Corporation (Newin), seek recovery of $9.5 million damages on Each cause of action, sustained as a result of alleged fraud and deceit committed by defendants, the Continental Insurance Company of America (Continental) and its wholly-owned subsidiary the Fidelity & Casualty Company of New York (Fidelity), in the course of the bankruptcy proceedings. It is alleged that the fraud, which included subornation of perjur has resulted, or will result, in the inability of the Stock Exchange to recover its losses incurred in rescuing the public customers of Haupt.

Whether plaintiffs have causes of action to recover damages for such conduct is the fundamental issue on this appeal.

Haupt, as a member of the Stock Exchange, was required to carry blanket bonds, in accordance with Stock Exchange rules. The rules' primary purpose is to protect the investing public, the customers of member firms. The Stock Exchange itself purchases excess insurance to cover losses in any case where a member firms' insurance is insufficient to cover the loss. Fidelity was the sole underwriter of the Haupt bonds. Continental, the parent company of Fidelity, was one of the carriers underwriting the Stock Exchange's excess coverage.

In 1965, Haupt's bankruptcy trustee commenced an action on the primary bonds. $58,000,000 was sought, essentially on the theory that Haupt's financial demise was caused by the infidelity of Haupt employees within the coverage of the Haupt bonds. It is alleged that, in the course of defending that law suit, two individuals, one of whom was an officer of both Fidelity and Continental and the other an attorney acting for both companies, corrupted a key witness, one Jack E. Stevens, a Haupt employee, and, as a result, Stevens was induced to change his testimony to the detriment of the trustee's case. Consequently the trustee opted to settle his claims for $6,000,000, a mere fraction of their value; none of the claim, under the language of the settlement agreed upon, was attributed to the 'dishonest acts' of Haupt personnel. The bankruptcy referee approved the settlement over plaintiffs' objections but refused to make any finding on the validity of the plaintiffs' fraud charges.

Subsequently, plaintiffs demanded payment under the excess coverage policies. Continental and its coinsurers refused to pay, contending, among other things, that the excess coverage is not payable because the settlement of $6,000,000 was less than the face amount, $14,000,000, of the primary coverage under the Haupt bonds. The defendant insurers took the position that no excess coverage is payable when the primary coverage had not been exhausted. This action followed.

The gravamen of the five causes of action before us is that defendants' alleged conduct in suppressing testimony and suborning perjury in the trustee's action was directed not merely at defeating the trustee's claim under the Haupt bond but also at frustrating plaintiffs' separate claim under the Newin bonds as well.

The first of these, denominated the third cause of action, is based upon a theory of common-law fraud and deceit. It alleges that, by reason of the fraudulent conduct of the defendants, the recovery on the claim under the primary insurance policy, which served as a deductible under the Newin bonds, was far less than the amount would otherwise have been. Further, it alleges that, but for the defendants' misconduct, litigation on the Newin bonds would have been completely unnecessary.

The Fourth cause of action is brought against Continental and others as carriers of the Newin bonds, predicated on a theory of breach of implied contract of fair dealing.

The fifth cause of action, brought against Fidelity only, is grounded on tortious interference with plaintiffs' rights under the Newin bonds.

The sixth cause of action, also brought against Fidelity only, pleads third-party beneficiary rights under the Haupt bonds. It asserts that the Newin and Haupt bonds are inextricably related and that Fidelity breached its duty to conduct a fair and honest investigation of the claim made under them.

The seventh cause of action, brought against Continental only, alleges that the conduct of Continental and its officers also constituted a tortious interference with plaintiffs' rights as third-party beneficiaries of an obligation to deal honestly and fairly under the Haupt bond.

Defendants urge that the fifth through seventh causes are barred by Res judicata (or collateral estoppel), release, and the rule that no civil cause of action lies for subornation of perjury at a prior civil proceeding. They additionally contend that, with respect to the sixth and seventh causes of action, since plaintiffs are not named as insureds under the Haupt bonds, they may not sue under them.

Special Term rejected these contentions In toto, and the Appellate Division, First Department, unanimously affirmed, but granted leave to appeal on a certified question.

Res judicata and release need not long detain us. It is clear from even a cursory reading of the bankruptcy referee's opinion, that he made no finding as to the truth or falsity of plaintiff' charges. He dealt only with the rights of the Haupt estate. The issues concerning the excess coverage bonds were not before him. The question of whether Fidelity's conduct damaged plaintiffs by breach of any independent duties owed to them could not be litigated in that forum. Unless the issues have 'necessarily been decided' in earlier proceedings, Res judicata (Smith v. Kirkpatrick, 305 N.Y. 66, 111 N.E.2d 209) and collateral estoppel are unavailable as defenses to prevent their trial (Schwartz v. Public Administrator of County of Bronx, 24 N.Y.2d 65, 71, 298 N.Y.S.2d 955, 959, 246 N.E.2d 725, 728; see Rosenberg, Collateral Estoppel in New York, 44 St. John's L.Rev. 165).

As to the release, it is executed solely on behalf of the 'Trustee, for himself, his predecessors, successors and assigns, and for and on behalf of the bankrupt Estate'. It did not, and indeed could not, effectively surrender the independent claims that are the subject of this action and which did not belong to the bankrupt estate. Even if that were not so, plaintiffs allege that the release's execution was improperly obtained. Such a claim is well recognized (Byrnes v. National Union Ins. Co., 34 A.D.2d 872, 310 N.Y.S.2d 781; see Goldsmith v. National Container Corp., 287 N.Y. 438, 40 N.E.2d 242) and, in and of itself would be sufficient to support a denial of this branch of the motion.

Appellants' chief contention is that the entire action is barred by the ancient rule that the courts of this State will not entertain civil actions for damages arising from alleged subornation of perjury in a prior civil proceeding (Ross v. Preston, 292 N.Y. 433, 55 N.E.2d 490; Crouse v. McVickar, 207 N.Y. 213, 219, 100 N.E. 697, 698; Ross v. Wood, 70 N.Y. 8; Adams v. Sage, 28 N.Y. 103; Young v. Leach, 27 App.Div. 293, 50 N.Y.S.2d 670). That rule is based upon the policy that testimony on factual issues occurs with such frequency in litigation that to permit a judgment or a settlement made subsequent to the giving of such testimony to be challenged because it was allegedly tainted with perjury or subornation 'would be productive of endless litigation * *...