BAD FAITH CLAIM DISMISSED FOR CONCLUSORY PLEADINGS; COURT REFUSES TO ALLOW AMENDMENT TO JOIN PARTIES THAT WOULD HAVE DESTROYED DIVERSITY (Western District)
This UIM case was removed to federal court, and the insured moved to remand this procedurally complex matter. The carrier opposed remand and moved to dismiss the insureds’ bad faith claims.
Court rejects amended complaint adding new parties that would destroy diversity
The plaintiffs’ initial UIM suit was against non-diverse defendants and the case was removed to federal court. After removal, the plaintiffs filed an Amended Complaint adding non-diverse parties from a separate auto accident. They moved to remand for lack of jurisdiction. The court refused to allow the joinder and retained jurisdiction, per 28 U.S.C. sec. 1447(e).
The court observed there was no Third Circuit precedent on section 1447(e), and like other district courts in this Circuit, the court followed the Fifth Circuit in applying a four-factor test to scrutinize remand motions under these circumstances. This balance of equities test adds heightened standards for allowing amendment that would destroy diversity. (The factors to be considered include “[1] the extent to which the purpose of the amendment is to defeat federal jurisdiction, [2] whether plaintiff has been dilatory in asking for amendment, [3] whether plaintiff will be significantly injured if amendment is not allowed, and [4] any other factors bearing on the equities.”).
Bad faith claims dismissed for pleading conclusory allegations
Having retained jurisdiction, the court then addressed the insured’s breach of contract and bad faith claims.
The insureds never allege “the amount of liability insurance available to the tortfeasors for the accident, the status of her claim against the insured, and they do not aver whether the liability limits of the tortfeasor’s coverage has been exhausted.” Thus, the insurer argued the UIM claim was not ripe. The insurer also argued the insureds never set out “the nature of [the] injuries, damages, or specific conduct in support of the statutory bad faith claim.”
The court found both the breach of contract and bad faith claims consisted “only of conclusory and boilerplate statements … and therefore, the motion to dismiss these claims will be granted.” It was significant to the court that plaintiffs did not attach the policy. Plaintiffs claimed they could not locate the policy, and as the court allowed amendment it encouraged the parties to work together expeditiously to get plaintiffs a copy of the policy.
More significantly, the plaintiffs did not plead any specific facts about the carrier’s conduct. The “merely alleged legal conclusions, and because the legal conclusions pled in the [amended complaint] are not facts, they are not assumed to be true and do not meet the Twombly/Iqbal standard.”
Date of Decision: October 9, 2020
Pierchalski v. Pryor, U.S. District Court Western District of Pennsylvania No. 2:19-CV-01352-RJC, 2020 WL 5994981 (W.D. Pa. Oct. 9, 2020) (Colville, J.)
