Opinion
No. 1-1028 / 01-0431
Filed May 14, 2003
Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Kossuth County, Frank B. Nelson, Judge.
Plaintiff appeals from the district court's ruling granting the defendant's motion for summary judgment and denying his motion for summary judgment in his breach of contract action. AFFIRMED IN PART, REVERSED IN PART, AND REMANDED.
Thomas W. Lipps Of Peterson Lipps, Algona, for appellant.
John C. Gray of Heidman, Redmond, Fredregill, Patterson, Plaza, Dykstra Prahl, L.L.P., Sioux City, for appellee.
Heard by Vogel, P.J., and Miller and Vaitheswaran, JJ.
Duane Johannesen (Duane) appeals from the district court's ruling granting the motion for summary judgment filed by Grinnell Mutual Reinsurance Company (Grinnell Mutual) and denying his motion for summary judgment in his breach of contract action. He contends the district court erred in ruling that he was not entitled to recover under the uninsured motorist coverage of his Grinnell Mutual family car policy, which affords insurance that is excess over other applicable similar insurance. He argues (1) only $12,000 of the underlying Mutual Fire Auto (Mutual Fire) policy limits of $100,000 of uninsured coverage was actually available to him, (2) under controlling Minnesota law, he had no claim to uninsured motorist benefits from the underlying Mutual Fire policy limits and it was error to offset those limits against his Grinnell Mutual policy, and (3) Grinnell Mutual is estopped from revoking its prior consent allocating the settlement proceeds. We affirm in part, reverse in part, and remand.
I. BACKGROUND FACTS.
Fred Johannesen (Fred) was killed when his car was hit by a vehicle being driven by Jerene Zwaschka. The fatal accident occurred in Martin County, Minnesota. Zwaschka was intoxicated and uninsured. She had been drinking at three bars in Iowa and Minnesota prior to the accident. Fred was a widower and was survived by five adult children, Duane, Debra Gerhart, Rick Johannesen, Carol Goyena, and Marilyn Larsen. Mutual Fire was the uninsured motorist carrier for the car Fred was driving. His limit for uninsured motorist benefits was $100,000.
An attorney representing Fred's executors and Duane wrote to Grinnell Mutual on February 18, 1998, outlining a tentative settlement with the dram shops' insurance carriers and Mutual Fire for an amount equal to the $100,000 limit of the Mutual Fire uninsured motorist coverage. The letter also indicated the Johannesens intended to allocate forty percent of the recovery to Fred's estate and twelve percent to each of the five children. The letter stated the proposed settlement was contingent upon Grinnell Mutual's decision as to whether it wished to preserve its potential right of subrogation. After further communications Fred's estate and children settled with Mutual Fire and the dram shops as proposed in the letter. Mutual Fire paid $50,000, the dram shops paid $34,000, and Mutual Fire partially waived its subrogation rights in the amount of $16,000. Duane's portion of the recovery was thus $12,000, consisting of $10,080 of the cash recovery plus $1920 of Mutual Fire's partial waiver of subrogation.
Duane and his siblings subsequently filed a petition on May 15, 1998, against Jerene and Paul Zwaschka and the siblings' respective uninsured motorist insurance carriers. The case was tried to a jury on April 18, 2000. On April 19 the jury returned verdicts against Jerene Zwaschka in the following amounts: $2191 loss to the estate, $50,000 for Duane's loss of parental consortium, $25,000 for Debra Gerhart's loss of parental consortium, and nothing for the remaining siblings and punitive damages. The total verdict was $77,191.
The uninsured motorist claims of Duane's siblings were settled or dismissed prior to trial.
It appears the Zwaschkas had filed for bankruptcy, but Jerene had been denied a discharge and the case went to trial against her only.
Duane sought uninsured benefits under his Grinnell Mutual policy for the verdict amount in his favor ($50,000), less settlement proceeds previously received ($12,000), plus interest and costs, solely for the loss of parental consortium. Duane filed a motion for summary judgment arguing there were no material facts in dispute, to the extent the jury awarded consortium damages in excess of $12,000 he should, as a matter of law, recover such excess from Grinnell Mutual under his policy, and that Grinnell Mutual should be estopped from contesting the prior allocation of settlement proceeds. Grinnell Mutual filed a cross motion for summary judgment, apparently agreeing there were no material facts in dispute but contending it was entitled to summary judgment as a matter of law because it owed nothing under the language of the policy and Iowa case law.
The Grinnell Mutual policy has an uninsured motorist limit of liability of $300,000 per person.
The court granted Grinnell Mutual's motion for summary judgment, finding the underlying facts were not in dispute and relying on the Iowa Supreme Court case of Rucker v. National General Ins. Co., 442 N.W.2d 113 (Iowa 1999). The court in Ruckerheld that an injured party who settles with the tortfeasor's liability carrier for less than the liability limits is assumed to have received the policy limits of the tortfeasor's liability policy. Rucker, 442 N.W.2d at 117. Settlement by the injured party with the tortfeasor's liability carrier is acknowledgement that policy has been exhausted. Id. Based on this holding the district court determined that the full $100,000 limit of the primary policy with Mutual Fire was available to Duane, this amount was in excess of the verdict and in excess of the amount received, and thus Duane had no viable claim against Grinnell Mutual. Accordingly, the court granted Grinnell Mutual's motion for summary judgment and dismissed Duane's petition with prejudice.
Duane filed a motion to enlarge and reconsider pursuant to Iowa Rule of Civil Procedure 1.904(2) contending the court failed to rule on his motion for summary judgment and motion to adjudicate law points. The court filed a written ruling on Duane's motion on February 23, 2001 stating it believed the previous ruling implicitly dealt with both parties' motions for summary judgment. However, in order to clarify the court explicitly overruled and denied Duane's motion for summary judgment and motion to adjudicate law points as well as the rule 1.904(2) motion. Duane appeals from this order.
II. SCOPE OF REVIEW.
We review a summary judgment ruling for the correction of errors of law. Iowa R.App.P. 6.4; Hameed v. Brown, 530 N.W.2d 703, 706 (Iowa 1995). Summary judgment is appropriate only if there is no genuine issue of material fact and the moving party is entitled to judgment as a matter of law. Iowa R.Civ.P. 1.981(3). On appeal, our task is to determine whether a genuine issue of material fact exists and whether the district court correctly applied the law. Red Giant Oil Co. v. Lawlor, 528 N.W.2d 524, 528 (Iowa 1995).
III. MERITS.
On appeal Duane contends the district court erred in ruling he was not entitled to recover under his Grinnell Mutual policy because the primary, underlying coverage from Mutual Fire was in excess of the amount of the verdict. Specifically, Duane argues (1) only $12,000 of the underlying Mutual Fire coverage was actually available to him, (2) under controlling Minnesota law he had no claim to uninsured motorist benefits from the underlying Mutual Fire policy limits and thus it was error to offset those limits against his Grinnell Mutual policy, and (3) Grinnell Mutual is estopped from revoking its prior consent to the allocation of the settlement proceeds.
A. Minnesota Law
Both parties spend time in this appeal arguing regarding the applicability of various aspects of Minnesota law. However, in the district court neither party pled or attempted to prove the applicability or force of Minnesota law. Our cases are clear that the applicability of foreign law must be pled and proven. Pennsylvania Life Ins. Co. v. Simoni, 641 N.W.2d 807, 810 (Iowa 2002); In re Estate of Allen, 239 N.W.2d 163, 169 (Iowa 1976); Zeman v. Canton State Bank, 211 N.W.2d 346, 349 (Iowa 1973). In the absence of such pleading and proof the law of the foreign state will be presumed to be the same as ours. Zeman, 211 N.W.2d at 349. Citation to foreign opinions in a party's brief is not adequate because it is not the introduction of evidence. Pennsylvania Life, 641 N.W.2d at 811.
Based on the state of the record before us we determine that even if Minnesota law would be dispositive of any of the rights of the parties, which we do not decide, the parties' have failed to provide the necessary pleading or proof required for our consideration of Minnesota law. EFCO Corp. v. Norman Highway Constructors, Inc., 606 N.W.2d 297, 300 (Iowa 2000). Our inability to apply unproven foreign law makes it unnecessary to determine what effect Minnesota law has on the appeal before us. Pennsylvania Life, 641 N.W.2d at 811. Under such circumstances it is presumed that the foreign law is the same as the Iowa law. EFCO Corp., 606 N.W.2d at 300. We now turn to the other issues raised on appeal.
B. Propriety of Summary Judgment.
The essence of Duane's contentions on appeal is that Grinnell Mutual consented to the proposed settlement with the dram shop carriers and Mutual Fire; the proposed settlement included a proposed allocation of proceeds; in reasonable reliance on Grinnell Mutual's consent he settled his claim as proposed; under the settlement he is entitled to receive only $12,000; and he is therefore entitled to receive from his uninsured motorist carrier, Grinnell Mutual, the $38,000 difference between his $50,000 of damages and his $12,000 settlement. He concludes the district court therefore erred in denying his motion for summary judgment and granting Grinnell Mutual's motion for summary judgment.
Grinnell Mutual in turn points out a provision in its policy which states that its uninsured motorist coverage "for a vehicle you do not own is excess over any other applicable similar insurance." It notes that "similar insurance" in this context means other uninsured motorist insurance. It asserts that the amount of uninsured motorist benefits actually available to Duane under the Mutual Fire policy exceeded the value of his loss of parental consortium claim.
Grinnell Mutual goes on to point out that although Duane and the others did settle their dram shop claims, they did not settle with the tortfeasor Jerene Zwaschka but instead sued her in a case that was tried to a jury and went to a verdict. It argues that because its policy was excess to the Mutual Fire policy it had no right of subrogation as against Mutual Fire and thus no authority to consent to Duane's settlement with Mutual Fire or to withhold its consent and substitute its payment for that of Mutual Fire. It asserts it did not consent to any allocation of settlement proceeds from Mutual Fire.
Grinnell Mutual also argues the February 18, 1998 letter from Duane's counsel contained no request for it to agree to the allocation of the uninsured motorist proceeds, and although it arguably consented to the settlement with the dram shop carriers there was no settlement with either of the Zwaschkas and it did not consent to the allocation of the settlement proceeds.
Grinnell Mutual concludes that Duane had actually available to him applicable similar insurance in excess of the value of his loss of parental consortium claim, Grinnell Mutual thus had no obligation to pay him any uninsured motorist benefits under its policy, and the trial court correctly granted summary judgment in its favor.
Duane's attorney's February 18, 1998 letter to Grinnell Mutual states in part: "The following tentative settlement has been reached." (Emphasis added). The same paragraph thereafter proceeds to outline the payments to be made by the various insurers, a certain partial waiver of subrogation rights by Mutual Fire, a partial reimbursement of Mutual Fire from dram shop proceeds, and the retention by the Johannesens of a right to pursue a claim against Zwaschka, subject to the subrogation agreement. The proposed settlement did not involve any settlement with the Zwaschkas.
A subsequent paragraph of the letter states:
Although the proposed recovery of $84,000 plus subrogation waiver and reservation of certain tort claims does not fully exhaust the Mutual Fire UM limits, it appears desirable for the Johannesen's estate and 12/100 of the total loss is allocated to each of the children. It would mean that each child would recover $10,080 (.12 x $84,000) out of the $12,000 (.12 x $100,000) available from the Mutual Fire UM Policy.
(Emphasis added).
Two paragraphs later the letter states, "Duane Johannesen is claiming that his own loss exceeds $12,000." The following, next-to-last paragraph states in part: "The proposed settlement is also contingent upon your company's decision as to whether you wish to preserve your potential right of subrogation." (Emphasis added).
Following a March 9, 1998 telephone call from Jim Borchers of Grinnell Mutual, Duane's attorney wrote to Borchers on the same day. The letter stated in part, "This letter will also document . . . that your company is consenting to the settlement which was proposed in my letter dated February 18, 1998." (Emphasis added).
Based on the evidence in the summary judgment record we agree with the district court that the underlying facts are largely undisputed. However, "summary judgment is still not proper if reasonable minds could draw different inferences and conclusions from the undisputed facts." Marks v. Estate of Hartgerink, 528 N.W.2d 539, 544 (Iowa 1995) (quoting Behr v. Meredith Corp., 414 N.W.2d 339, 341 (Iowa 1987)); see also Manning v. State, 654 N.W.2d 555, 560 (Iowa 2002) ("A genuine issue of material fact exists if reasonable minds could draw difference inferences and reach different conclusions from the undisputed facts."). We conclude that based on the content of the February 18 and March 9 letters a finder of fact could reasonably find that Grinnell Mutual consented to the proposed settlement, including the allocation of settlement proceeds. However, for the reasons that follow we conclude that genuine issues of material fact exist both as to what "consent" Grinnell Mutual gave to the settlement with the dram shop carriers and Mutual Fire, and whether such consent included a consent to the allocation of settlement proceeds. We therefore conclude summary judgment in favor of either party was not appropriate.
As to consent to the proposed settlement, we note Grinnell Mutual asserted in the trial court, as it does on appeal, that because there was no settlement with the Zwaschkas and it had no claim for subrogation against any party other than the Zwaschkas there was thus nothing in the proposed settlement to which it could consent or withhold consent. For all the record shows, any "consent" was entirely consistent with its position, merely an expression that it consented, or had no objection, because it had no stake in the settlement with the dram shop carriers and Mutual Fire and any consent was thus conditioned upon its rights remaining unaffected. Relatedly, we note that Duane's attorney's March 9, 1998 letter does not in any manner set forth the nature or content of whatever consent may have been given. We conclude that a genuine issue of material fact exists concerning the nature and content, and thus the effect, of any consent by Grinnell Mutual to the Johannesens' settlement with the dram shop carriers and Mutual Fire.
As noted above, one paragraph of the February 18 letter referred to and outlined a tentative settlement, and the amount of the settlement, while a separate paragraph discussed how the proceeds would be allocated. The March 9 letter then spoke of Grinnell Mutual's consent to the settlement. Under such circumstances it can reasonably be inferred that any consent by Grinnell Mutual was to what the February 18 letter described as the settlement, and not to how that settlement would be allocated. Otherwise stated, both the structure of the February 18 letter and the content of the two letters allow different reasonable inferences concerning whether any consent to the settlement included a consent to the allocation of settlement proceeds.
We have considered the other issues raised by the parties and conclude they are controlled or rendered moot by our conclusion that genuine issues of material fact precluded summary judgment. We affirm the district court's denial of Duane's motion for summary judgment, reverse its grant of Grinnell Mutual's motion for summary judgment, and remand for further proceedings not inconsistent with this opinion.