Roxie McBride v. State Farm Fire and Casualty Company et al.

Summary

The United States District Court for the Western District of Oklahoma denied Plaintiff Roxie McBride’s motion to remand an insurance-coverage action to state court. The court found that the nondiverse insurance agent and agency were fraudulently joined because Plaintiff had no potentially viable claims against them, and it dismissed those defendants without prejudice.

Holdings

1. Similar allegations in multiple cases and the number of cases filed by plaintiff's counsel, standing alone, do not establish actual fraud in the pleading of jurisdictional facts.
2. A nondiverse defendant is fraudulently joined when the plaintiff has no possibility of recovery against that defendant under state law; if any claim against the nondiverse defendant is possibly viable, remand is required.
3. An Oklahoma insurance agent's duty to use reasonable care, skill, and diligence in procuring insurance is not breached where the agent procures the requested replacement-cost policy providing coverage for weather-related losses, absent a specific additional coverage need communicated by the insured.
4. An insurance agent's inherent or implied representations arising from procuring, binding, or renewing a policy do not, without more, establish a viable constructive-fraud or negligent-misrepresentation claim, particularly where the alleged damages arise from a later coverage determination rather than procurement.

Questions Presented

1. Whether State Farm established actual fraud in McBride's pleading of jurisdictional facts.
2. Whether McBride had any potentially viable claim under Oklahoma law against the nondiverse insurance agent and agency for negligent procurement of insurance.
3. Whether McBride had any potentially viable claim against the nondiverse insurance agent and agency for constructive fraud or negligent misrepresentation.
4. Whether the nondiverse defendants were fraudulently joined such that their citizenship could be disregarded and federal diversity jurisdiction sustained.

Disposition

dismissed