FILED
United States Court of Appeals
Tenth Circuit
July 14, 2009
UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS
Elisabeth A. Shumaker
Clerk of Court
FOR THE TENTH CIRCUIT
DAVID WEBB; BEN FREEMAN;
MICHAEL FREEMAN,
Plaintiffs-Appellants,
No. 08-3267
v. (D.C. No. 6:07-CV-01125-WEB)
(D. Kan.)
WEST COAST LIFE INSURANCE
COMPANY,
Defendant-Appellee.
ORDER AND JUDGMENT *
Before TACHA, PORFILIO, and ANDERSON, Circuit Judges.
This diversity action involves a decision by West Coast Life Insurance
Company (West Coast) to deny payment to plaintiffs of the proceeds of a life
insurance policy insuring the life of Diane Kelley. Ms. Kelley applied for the
policy on or about March 18, 2002. West Coast issued the policy soon thereafter.
*
After examining the briefs and appellate record, this panel has determined
unanimously to grant the parties’ request for a decision on the briefs without oral
argument. See Fed. R. App. P. 34(f); 10th Cir. R. 34.1(G). The case is therefore
ordered submitted without oral argument. This order and judgment is not binding
precedent, except under the doctrines of law of the case, res judicata, and
collateral estoppel. It may be cited, however, for its persuasive value consistent
with Fed. R. App. P. 32.1 and 10th Cir. R. 32.1.
Less than seven months later, on October 9, 2002, Ms. Kelley died of metastatic
cancer. Following her death, plaintiffs submitted claims for the policy benefits,
which West Coast denied. West Coast denied the claims because it found that
Ms. Kelley had failed to disclose certain information in response to questions
contained in the policy application. The omitted information concerned numerous
visits she had with various physicians and specialists in the months preceding her
application. She consulted these physicians for pains relating to suspected
multiple myeloma, a form of cancer. West Coast determined that, had its
insurance underwriters known of these medical visits and the findings made by
her doctors, it would not have issued the insurance policy.
After West Coast denied their claims, plaintiffs filed this action in district
court, alleging that West Coast breached the insurance contract by failing to pay
life insurance policy benefits to them. West Coast counterclaimed for rescission
of the policy on the basis of fraud. The district court granted West Coast’s
motion for summary judgment on plaintiffs’ breach of contract claim and
rescinded the policy. It found that the evidence demonstrated, for summary
judgment purposes, that Ms. Kelley had misrepresented material facts in her
application that resulted in West Coast issuing a life insurance policy; that the
material misrepresentations were extensive; that Ms. Kelley entered into the life
insurance contract fraudulently; that West Coast justifiably relied on her
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misrepresentations; and that the information she failed to disclose was directly
related to the cause of her death.
We review the district court’s grant of summary judgment de novo,
applying the same standard as the district court. Pinkerton v. Colo. Dep’t of
Transp., 563 F.3d 1052, 1058 (10th Cir. 2009). Summary judgment is appropriate
if “there is no genuine issue as to any material fact and . . . the movant is entitled
to judgment as a matter of law.” Fed. R. Civ. P. 56(c). In making this
determination, we “examine the record and all reasonable inferences that might be
drawn from it in the light most favorable to the non-moving party.” Pinkerton,
563 F.3d at 1058 (quotation omitted). “At this stage, credibility determinations,
the weighing of the evidence, and the drawing of legitimate inferences from the
facts are jury functions, not those of a judge. . . . The evidence of the non-movant
is to be believed, and all justifiable inferences are to be drawn in his favor.”
Id. (quotation omitted). But “[w]here the record taken as a whole could not lead
a rational trier of fact to find for the nonmoving party, there is no ‘genuine issue
for trial.’” Id. (quoting Matsushita Elec. Indus. Co. v. Zenith Radio Corp.,
475 U.S. 574, 587 (1986)).
On appeal, plaintiffs argue that the district court erred in granting
West Coast the benefit of the reasonable inferences to be drawn from the
evidence. They also argue that summary judgment is inappropriate because
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factual issues remain concerning Ms. Kelley’s intent in providing her answers on
the insurance application.
Having reviewed and considered the parties’ briefs, the record, and the
applicable law, we AFFIRM the district court’s grant of summary judgment and
rescission of the policy, for substantially the same reasons the district court
articulated in its well-reasoned decision of August 29, 2008.
Entered for the Court
John C. Porfilio
Circuit Judge
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