Starry v. Central Dakota Printing, Inc.

• Decision Date: 13 April 1995
• Docket Number: No. 940305,940305
• Citation: 530 N.W.2d 323
• Parties: Allen STARRY and Sonja Starry, Plaintiffs and Appellees, and Great West Casualty Company, Intervenor and Appellant, v. CENTRAL DAKOTA PRINTING, INC., a North Dakota Corporation, Defendant. Civ.
• Court: North Dakota Supreme Court

Page 323

530 N.W.2d 323

Allen STARRY and Sonja Starry, Plaintiffs and Appellees and Great West Casualty Company, Intervenor and Appellant, v. CENTRAL DAKOTA PRINTING, INC., a North Dakota Corporation, Defendant.

Civ. No. 940305.

Supreme Court of North Dakota.

April 13, 1995.

Daniel T. Carlisle, Wadena, MN, and Paul J. Bowlinger, Bismarck, for plaintiffs and appellees.

Thomas O. Smith, Zuger, Kirmis & Smith, Bismarck, and Michael Barrett, Cousineau, McGuire & Anderson, Minneapolis, MN, for intervenor and appellant.

SANDSTROM, Justice.

Great West Casualty Company (Great West) appeals from a judgment dismissing its subrogation claim against Allen and Sonja Starry for $28,058.39 in no-fault benefits it paid to Allen Starry. We conclude the trial court correctly ruled Minnesota no-fault subrogation law applied and there was no genuine issue of material fact about whether the Starrys would receive a double recovery if subrogation were denied. We therefore affirm.

I

Allen Starry, a truck driver based out of Osakis, Minnesota, was seriously injured in July 1990 while unloading a truckload of paper rolls he had delivered to Central Dakota Printing, Inc.'s (Central Dakota) premises in Wishek, North Dakota. Great West, Starry's no-fault vehicle insurer, paid him $20,000 in medical loss benefits and $8,059.39 in wage loss benefits. Starry, a Minnesota resident, purchased the Great West no-fault policy in Minnesota, and his truck was registered and principally garaged in Minnesota.

The Starrys brought a tort action against Central Dakota, which was insured by Farmers Union Mutual Insurance Company under a comprehensive general liability policy covering the premises. They sought damages for Allen Starry's personal injuries and Sonja Starry's loss of consortium. As stipulated by the parties, Great West was allowed to intervene "to protect its rights of subrogation and reimbursement." The Starrys negotiated a settlement with Central Dakota for an unallocated lump sum of $120,000. As a result of the settlement and release agreement disposing of the Starrys' tort claims against Central Dakota, $91,941.61 was paid to the Starrys and $28,058.39, the amount of Great West's claimed subrogation interest, was deposited with the court pending the outcome of Great West's subrogation claim.

Great West asserted North Dakota subrogation law applied and it was entitled to recover the no-fault benefits it had paid to Starry under N.D.C.C. § 26.1-41-16. N.D.C.C. § 26.1-41-16 provides:

"Insurer's right of subrogation. A basic no-fault insurer which has paid or may become obligated to pay basic no-fault benefits under this chapter is subrogated to the extent of its obligations to all of the rights of the injured person against any person other than a secured person. The subrogee has a lien to the extent of its obligations, and no release of rights is effective against the rights without the subrogee's consent."

The Starrys concede Great West is entitled to subrogation if this statute applies to the subrogation dispute. Great West also contended it was entitled to subrogation under Minnesota law because the parties, by agreeing to deposit the precise amount of Great West's subrogation claim in court, had shown the Starrys would receive a double recovery under Minn.Stat.Ann. § 65B.53, Subd. 2 if its subrogation claim were denied. Minn.Stat.Ann. § 65B.53, Subd. 2 provides:

"A reparation obligor paying or obligated to pay basic or optional economic loss benefits is subrogated to the claim for the recovery of damages for economic loss that the person to whom the basic or optional economic loss benefits were paid or payable has against another person whose negligence in another state was the direct and proximate cause of the injury for which the basic economic loss benefits were paid or payable. This right of subrogation exists only to the extent that basic economic loss benefits are paid or payable and only to the extent that recovery on the claim absent subrogation would produce a duplication of benefits or reimbursement of the same loss."

The trial court ruled Minnesota subrogation law applied and, on cross-motions for summary judgment, further ruled there was no genuine issue of material fact to suggest the Starrys would receive a double recovery if subrogation were denied under the Minnesota statute.

The judgment was entered awarding the Starrys the $28,058.39 deposited with the court, plus interest and costs.

The trial court had jurisdiction under Art. VI, §§ 1 and 8, N.D. Const., and N.D.C.C. § 27-05-06. This Court has jurisdiction under Art. VI, §§ 1 and 2, N.D. Const., and N.D.C.C. § 28-27-01. Great West's appeal was timely under N.D.R.App.P. 4(a).

II

Both parties rely on American Family Mut. v. Farmers Ins., 504 N.W.2d 307 (N.D.1993), to support their choice-of-law arguments about whether North Dakota or Minnesota no-fault subrogation law should apply under the circumstances.

In American Family, a North Dakota no-fault insured motorist collided with a Minnesota no-fault insured motorist in Minnesota. The insurer of the North Dakota driver paid him no-fault benefits for his injuries and sued the insurer of the Minnesota driver, seeking a declaratory judgment that it was entitled to subrogation under the North Dakota no-fault equitable allocation statute, N.D.C.C. § 26.1-41-17.

We found usual application of the significant-contacts test analyzed in Vigen Construction Co. v. Millers National Insurance Co., 436 N.W.2d 254 (N.D.1989), and Apollo Sprinkler Co. v. Fire Sprinkler Suppliers & Design, Inc., 382 N.W.2d 386 (N.D.1986), to be of little help in resolving the choice-of-law question. Vigen and Apollo, we said, "stand for the proposition that the law of the jurisdiction having the most significant contacts with an insurance policy and with the parties to the policy will govern actions on the policy." American Family at 308 (emphasis in original). Because American Family did not involve a first-party action by the no-fault insurer of the North Dakota resident against its insured on the policy, but involved a third-party statutory action for subrogation between two no-fault insurers, those normally determinative significant contacts with the jurisdiction did not control "which state's law governs this statutory subrogation action against an out-of-state insurer which is a stranger to the North Dakota contract." American Family at 308. In essence, because two no-fault policies issued in different states were involved, and all of the contacts cited by one insurer could be raised "in mirror-image fashion" by the other insurer, those factors "balance[d] out," and we were required to "look to factors beyond the policies themselves to determine which state's law governs." American Family at 309.

We found "one overridingly significant" factor, "the law of the jurisdiction whose 'interests are more deeply affected by the issues raised,' " which mandated application of Minnesota no-fault law over North Dakota no-fault law. American Family at 309 (quoting Vigen at 258). We noted the strong territorial nature of the no-fault laws in both states, each of which required no-fault coverage when a vehicle is operated within the state. We ruled:

"The statutory schemes of North Dakota and Minnesota, as well as the Uniform [Motor Vehicle Accident Reparations] Act, demonstrate a singular concern with coverage for accidents occurring within the boundaries of that state. Each provides for mandatory coverage when an out-of-state vehicle is driven within the state. The legislatures of North Dakota and Minnesota have recognized that benefits under the Minnesota statute are available when a North Dakota insured is injured in a Minnesota accident. Minnesota no-fault law should apply to determine the availability of subrogation when Minnesota no-fault law governs the benefits available to the insured and Minnesota tort law governs the underlying action. We conclude that Minnesota has the more significant contacts with the issue of statutory subrogation for no-fault benefits under the facts in this case."

American Family at 310-311 (footnote omitted).

Great West asserts under the American Family rationale North Dakota has a deeper interest in applying its no-fault subrogation law in this case because the accident occurred in North Dakota.

Under these circumstances, the usually controlling jurisdictional contacts do not "balance out" as they did in American Family. American Family involved a N.D.C.C. § 26.1-41-17 subrogation dispute between two no-fault vehicle insurance obligors, and we stressed the strong territorial nature of statutorily-mandated no-fault insurance coverage. Likewise, National Indemn. Co. v. Federal Ins. Co., 180 Ga.App. 743, 350 S.E.2d 278 (1986), also relied on by Great West, involved a subrogation dispute between two no-fault vehicle insurers. Here, Great West is the only no-fault insurer involved in this dispute. Central Dakota did not satisfy its settlement obligation to the Starrys through a statutorily-mandated no-fault vehicle insurance policy, but through a comprehensive general liability insurance policy covering its premises. There is no legislative mandate, as there is with no-fault vehicle insurance, requiring Central Dakota's comprehensive general liability coverage. Even though the North Dakota no-fault act allows, through N.D.C.C. § 26.1-41-16, a no-fault vehicle insurer subrogation from a non-motorist...