AMERICAN MUTUAL INSURANCE COMPANY, PETITIONER,
v.
JOHN E. BENDER AND JANE BENDER, HIS WIFE, ET AL., RESPONDENTS

Fla. 1st DCA | 1987-06-26
No. BP-326
BOOTH, C.J., and MILLS and THOMPSON, JJ., concur.
513 So. 2d 669 Florida District Court of Appeal, First District (1987) Positive Treatment
Cited by 2 cases

AI-generated. These summaries, headnotes, and key points are machine-generated and may contain errors or omissions. Always verify against the full opinion text below. Not legal advice.

Synopsis

American Mutual Insurance Company sought review of a trial court's denial of its motion to dismiss a products liability action filed by John Bender, an asbestos-exposed Navy veteran, against the insured company Keasbey & Mattison and its insurers. The court denied certiorari, finding no basis for relief where the complaint alleged the insured company merged with a named and served defendant that assumed its liabilities.


Holding

The court denied the petition for certiorari, finding no basis for relief. Where a plaintiff must prove the insured's negligence to recover from the insurer, the insured is an indispensable party; however, the complaint's allegation that the unserved insured merged with a served defendant that assumed its liabilities presented questions of fact regarding merger documents and insurance policy terms that could not be resolved on a motion to dismiss.


Headnotes

[1] A trial court must construe a complaint's allegations in favor of the nonmoving party when ruling on a motion to dismiss.

[2] Florida law generally does not recognize direct actions against insurance companies when the insured is an indispensable party.

Previewing 2 of 4 headnotes on this case. FLexlaw’s editorially structured points of law — every proposition, pinpointed — are reserved for members.

Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligence

Key Quotes

“Where a plaintiff is required to prove an insured's negligence in order to recover damages from the insurer, the insured is an indispensable party, and no action may proceed against the insurer without the insured or its properly substituted party.”

Establishes the fundamental rule that an unserved insured is indispensable when negligence must be proven for recovery from the insurer.

Previewing 1 of 3 key quotes on this case — the court’s exact language, pinpointed for members.

Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligence

Facts & Procedural History

John Bender, a coppersmith, was exposed to asbestos while serving in the United States Navy from 1944 to 1966. He filed suit against Keasbey & Mattiso…

The full statement of facts, procedural history, and disposition for this case are member content.

Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligence

© FLexlaw, Inc. — AI-generated enrichments are proprietary. All rights reserved.


Opinion of the Court
PER CURIAM.

PER CURIAM.

This cause is before us on petition for writ of common law certiorari to review the order of the trial court denying petitioner’s motion to dismiss. We found that the petition demonstrated a preliminary basis for relief and issued an order to show cause. See Rule 9.100(f), Florida Rules of Appellate Procedure; Kauffman v. King, 89 So. 2d 24, 26 (Fla.1956). See also Canadian Home Insurance Company v. Norris, 471 So. 2d 217 (Fla. 4th DCA 1985).

Respondent John Bender, a coppersmith by trade, was exposed to asbestos while in the United States Navy and filed suit in the nature of a products liability action against Keasbey & Mattison, Inc., its insurer (petitioner), as well as 14 other companies dealing with asbestos or asbestos-containing products and their insurers for compensatory and punitive damages.1

Petitioner American Mutual, insurer of Keasbey & Mattison, moved to dismiss the action against it on the ground that Keas-bey & Mattison was not served, and Florida law does not recognize direct actions against insurance companies.2 The motion was denied, as was petitioner’s motion for rehearing. Petitioner now seeks our review by common law certiorari.

On a motion to dismiss, the trial court is limited to the allegations of the complaint, and must construe those allegations in favor of the nonmoving party. The complaint alleges the following, in pertinent part:

14. Defendant, Nicolet, Inc., merged with its asbestos insulation producing predecessor, Keasbey & Mattison, Inc., and succeeded to its liabilities, or so succeeded either by de facto merger, by express or implied assumption, or by being a mere continuation of its predecessor. According to the complaint, Keasbey & Mattison merged with Nicolet, Inc., a named and served defendant, who assumed the liabilities of its predecessor. Where a plaintiff is required to prove an insured’s negligence in order to recover damages from the insurer, the insured is an indispensable party, and no action may proceed against the insurer without the insured or its properly substituted party. Kephart v. Pickens, 271 So. 2d 163 (Fla. 4th DCA 1972), cert. denied, 276 So. 2d 168 (Fla.1973); and Roberts v. Nationwide Mutual Fire Insurance Company, 355 So. 2d 219 (Fla. 1st DCA 1978). Count I of respondents’ complaint alleges negligence on the part of the insured (Keasbey & Mattison, Inc.), thereby requiring proof of the insured’s negligence in order to recover from the insurer (petitioner). However, the complaint also alleges that Keasbey & Mattison merged with Nicolet, Inc., who assumed the liabilities of the former. Nicolet, Inc. has been joined and served in the suit. The record does not contain the insurance policy issued by petitioner nor the documents pertaining to the corporate merger. Error does not appear, and finding no basis for exercise of this court’s certiorari jurisdiction, certiorari is denied.

BOOTH, C.J., and MILLS and THOMPSON, JJ., concur. . Respondent does not claim to have contracted his asbestos-related disease while in the employ of Keasbey & Mattison, Inc., or any of the other named defendant corporations; rather, respondent alleges, in part, that through his work as a coppersmith with the United States Navy from 1944 to 1966 he was exposed to the effects and results of working with "asbestos and asbestos-containing insulation materials which were manufactured, processed, imported, converted, compounded, distributed, sold or otherwise placed into the channels of commerce by respective defendants.”

. Two other grounds asserted in the motion to dismiss have not been raised in the petition and will not be discussed.


Cases With Similar Vibessemantic neighbors from the corpus


Citator

Cited By

  • City of Gainesville Code Enf't Bd. v. Lewis, 536 So. 2d 1148 (Fla. 1st DCA 1988)
    …so, whether the defect could have been cured by amendment. On a motion to dismiss, a trial court is limited to the allegations of the complaint, and must construe those allegations in favor of the non-moving party. American Mutual In. Co. v. Bender, 513 So. 2d 669 (Fla. 1st DCA 1987) rev. den. 518 So. 2d 1273 (Fla.1987). When a complaint is dismissed for failure to state a cause of action, this court must assume that the allegations of the complaint are true and draw all reasonable inferences arising from the…

Authorities Cited

Full citator, related cases, and AI research tools

Open in FLexlaw