Pelaez v. Gov't Emps. Ins. Co.
| Decision Date | 15 May 2020 |
| Docket Number | Case No. 8:19-cv-910-T-30JSS |
| Citation | 460 F.Supp.3d 1259 |
| Parties | Raul A. PELAEZ as Limited Guardian of the Person and Property of John Poul Pelaez, ward and Michael Adam Conlon, Jr., Plaintiffs, v. GOVERNMENT EMPLOYEES INSURANCE COMPANY, Defendant. |
| Court | U.S. District Court — Middle District of Florida |
Lee Delton Gunn, IV, Scott A. Arthur, Gunn Law Group, PA, Tampa, FL, for Plaintiffs.
B. Richard Young, Joshua John Cecil Hartley, Megan Alexander, Mary C. Littlejohn, Young, Bill, Boles, Palmer & Duke P.A., Tampa, FL, for Defendant.
SUMMARY JUDGMENT ORDER
This cause is before the Court upon the parties’ motions for summary judgment (Dkts. 42, 43) in this insurance bad faith action. The Court has reviewed the filings, record evidence, and relevant law. The Court concludes that Defendant Government Employees Insurance Company ("GEICO") is entitled to summary judgment for two reasons. First, the record is undisputed that Plaintiffs did not obtain an excess judgment as defined under Florida law. Second, even if the threshold matter of obtaining an excess judgment were met, the facts reflect that GEICO did not act in bad faith. Accordingly, final judgment will be entered in GEICO's favor.
The material facts are not in dispute. The Court views the facts in the light most favorable to Plaintiffs, the non-movants. Mesa v. Clarendon Nat. Ins. Co. , 799 F.3d 1353, 1358 (11th Cir. 2015). Plaintiffs, Raul Pelaez ("Mr. Pelaez") as Limited Guardian of the Person and Property of John Poul Pelaez ward ("Pelaez") (collectively "the Pelaezes") and Michael Adam Conlon, Jr., ("Conlon") (collectively "Plaintiffs") filed the instant common law insurance bad faith action against GEICO in the Circuit Court of the Thirteenth Judicial Circuit, in and for Hillsborough County, Florida. GEICO then removed the action to this Court based on diversity jurisdiction.
The action arises from a motor vehicle accident that occurred on Friday, April 13, 2012, in Hillsborough County, Florida ("the accident"). Conlon, who was operating a Hyundai Accent owned by his mother, Vivian Cubero ("Cubero"), was making a left hand turn and crashed into a motorcycle that Pelaez was driving. At the time of the accident, GEICO insured Cubero under an automobile liability policy, number 4218462077, which provided bodily injury ("BI") coverage limits in the amount of $50,000 per person/$100,000 per occurrence and also provided separate property damage ("PD") coverage limits of $50,000 ("the policy"). Conlon was covered as an additional driver under the policy.
Conlon phoned GEICO from the scene of the accident and advised that his mother's vehicle was damaged and needed to be towed. At that time, Conlon did not report that there were any injuries. GEICO concluded that the accident was covered under the policy and made phone calls to both Conlon and Cubero in order to gather more information about the accident. GEICO informed Cubero that it was investigating liability for the accident. GEICO was unable to reach Conlon and left him a voicemail.
On April 16, 2012, the claim was assigned to GEICO claims examiner Robert Sundean ("Sundean"). That same day, GEICO received a telephone call from Pelaez's fiancé, Brianna Niemann ("Niemann"), who advised that she was unaware if Pelaez had an insurance policy for the motorcycle. Niemann also stated that she was working with two detectives who were investigating the accident and she provided their contact information.
On April 17, 2012, Sundean phoned Conlon and left him a message requesting a recorded interview. Sundean then called Pelaez and left him a message requesting a return call. That same day, Sundean phoned one of the detectives Niemann referenced (detective Sarff) and left him a message informing him that he wanted to discuss the investigation. Later that same day, GEICO conducted Conlon's recorded interview. During this interview, Conlon suggested that Pelaez may have been speeding on his motorcycle when he struck Conlon's vehicle. Conlon also stated that Pelaez lost consciousness and was air lifted to the hospital with unknown injuries.
The next day, April 18, 2012, Sundean sent letters to Cubero and Pelaez advising that he was the adjuster assigned to handle the claim. Sundean also sent a separate letter to Pelaez enclosing a HIPAA compliant authorization form, as well as an authorization to obtain leave and salary information. That same day, Sundean continued his investigation of the accident and learned that the posted speed limit at the scene of the accident was thirty-five (35) miles per hour. Sundean concluded that, based on the reported length of the skid marks from the motorcycle being sixty-seven (67) feet, the relatively low speed limit, the apparent high impact of the accident, and the fact that Conlon advised he was not issued a citation for the accident, Pelaez was likely speeding and that there may be some comparative negligence for the accident. Sundean left another message for detective Sarff. Sundean also spoke with Cubero who advised that she would send photos from the scene of the accident with the skid marks.
On April 23, 2012, GEICO received a letter of representation ("LOR") from attorney Jeffrey "Jack" Gordon, Esq., at Maney & Gordon, P.A. ("Gordon"), dated April 20, 2012, advising that he represented Pelaez in connection with the accident. The LOR requested GEICO send him statutory insurance disclosures, pursuant to Florida Statute § 627.4137. Also on April 23, 2012, Cubero emailed Sundean photos from the scene of the accident. Later on that same day, Niemann faxed Sundean a copy of the police report. The police report indicated that Conlon had failed to yield the right of way and that one of the witnesses to the accident stated that it did not appear as though Pelaez was driving the motorcycle at a high rate of speed, contradicting the information Conlon reported to GEICO. The police report also indicated that Pelaez sustained major injuries including head injuries and confirmed that he had been airlifted to St. Joseph's Hospital from the scene of the accident.
The next day, April 24, 2012, GEICO decided to proactively tender the full BI policy limits of $50,000 in an attempt to settle Pelaez's BI claim.
On April 25, 2012, Sundean phoned Gordon and left a message with his assistant, Heather Austin. Sundean told Austin that GEICO had made the decision to tender the $50,000 BI limits and that a GEICO field adjuster would deliver the check for the BI limits. Sundean also stated that GEICO needed to know the location of Pelaez's motorcycle so that GEICO could adjust Pelaez's PD claim. Upon receiving this message, Austin sent Gordon an email relaying this information, i.e., that GEICO would like to tender the $50,000 BI limits and that GEICO wanted to know the location of the motorcycle to get an estimate of the damage in order to settle the PD claim.
On April 26, 2012, a GEICO field adjuster, Lori Cassady ("Cassady"), hand-delivered the BI tender package to Gordon's office. The package had a cover letter that provided an index of the documents that were included in the package and requested that Gordon confirm receipt of the package contents: GEICO's check number N602054895, in the amount $50,000 (Fifty Thousand dollars), representing tender of the per person policy limit under Bodily Injury Liability coverage; GEICO's proposed release; a coverage limits disclosure letter; and a letter from Sundean. The check specifically stated that it was in payment of "[t]ender of the per person BI limits." The release contained the following language:
FOR AND IN CONSIDERATION of Fifty Thousand Dollars and 00/100 ($50,000.00), the receipt and sufficiency of which is acknowledged, the undersigned, John Pelaez, As A Single Individual, hereby releases and forever discharges Vivian Cuberoconlon, Michael Conlon, and all officers, directors, agents or employees of the foregoing, their heirs, executors, administrators, agents, or assigns, none of whom admit any liability to the undersigned, from any and all claims, demands, damages, actions, causes of action, or suits of any kind or nature whatsoever, on account of all injuries and damages, known and unknown, which have resulted or may in the future develop as a consequence of a motor vehicle accident that occurred at Countryway Blvd and Oaksbury in Tampa, Florida, on or about the 13th of April, 2012.
(Dkt. 42 at Ex. K).
The limits disclosure letter stated that the policy provided BI coverage in the amount of $50,000 per person and also provided $50,000 in separate PD coverage. Sundean's letter stated, in relevant part, that: (Dkt. 42 at Ex. K).
Also on April 26, 2012, GEICO sent Conlon a letter, advising him of the available coverage limits under the policy, the possibility that the claim could exceed his available coverage limits, that he would be liable for any judgment against him in excess of the policy limits, his right to obtain personal counsel, and his right to contribute towards settlement of the claim.
On April 30, 2012, GEICO received a letter from Gordon dated April 27, 2012. The letter requested that GEICO send him statutory insurance disclosures and stated that Gordon would allow GEICO to inspect the motorcycle.
On May 1, 2012, GEICO noted that it had tried numerous times to contact Gordon's office to try and ascertain the location of the motorcycle to adjust the PD claim. On May 2, 2012, Sundean wrote a letter to Gordon that included a notarized affidavit of coverage as well as a certified copy of the policy. The letter noted,...
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...the "functional equivalent" of an excess judgment. This Court's order granting summary judgment in Pelaez v. Government Employees Insurance Company , 460 F.Supp.3d 1259 (M.D. Fla. 2020) is also on appeal. Pelaez involved a consent judgment, not an acceptance of a proposal of settlement and ......