Opinion ID: 1103328
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: Negligence and/or Wantonness Claims

Text: The plaintiff policyholders assert two separate negligence and/or wantonness claims. First, the plaintiff policyholders argue that Alfa negligently and/or wantonly failed to supervise or train its employees in transactions involving the minimum-deposit payment plan as it related to the Whole Life 110 policies. Second, the plaintiff policyholders claim that Alfa was negligent and/or wanton in handling the policies placed on the minimum-deposit payment plan. In its certification order, the trial court stated: At the certification hearing, [the plaintiff policyholders] submitted the affidavit of a former Alfa agent who sold the life insurance policy at issue to named [plaintiff policyholders] Tom and Patti Dake. In the affidavit, Neil Lord states that he did not inform the Dakes that policy loans would be used to pay future premiums because he was not trained to describe the minimum deposit policy in that manner. Mr. Lord states that he was trained by Alfa at a scheduled training session to tell policyholders like the Dakes that the number of required premium payments was dependent upon the prevailing interest rate. According to the [plaintiff policyholders], Alfa breached the applicable standard of care in failing to fully inform its agents and employees regarding the material aspects of the minimum deposit payment option. [The plaintiff policyholders] contend that Alfa's desire to sell policies was stronger than its desire to explain the minimum deposit option to its agents and insureds and that, as a result, the company stressed the lower number of required out-of-pocket premiums and did not appropriately explain other material aspects of the payment option. [The plaintiff policyholders] aver that as a result of this alleged failure to train and/or supervise, there has been a systematic failure to disclose material details about this minimum deposit option to the insureds. [The plaintiff policyholders] further allege that Alfa has been negligent and/or wanton in its handling of minimum deposit policies. Specifically, [the plaintiff policyholders] challenge Alfa's allowing policies to be placed on the minimum deposit payment option after the tax laws had changed when it was allegedly contrary to policyholders' best interest. [The plaintiff policyholders] also claim that Alfa has been negligent and/or wanton in its implementation of its alleged plan to protect minimum deposit policyholders. [The plaintiff policyholders] point to evidence that company personnel were not adequately instructed with regard to the company's plan; that lapses of minimum deposit policies were commonplace; that Alfa collected at least $583,447 in additional premiums from minimum deposit policyholders even though the company had allegedly decided not to require such additional premiums; that death claims were not properly paid; and, that minimum deposit policyholders continue to be charged an effective loan interest rate which is greater than that which should have been assessed them according to the original minimum deposit concept. Alabama caselaw is applicable to these negligence and wantonness claims. The proof required to establish Alfa's negligent or wanton training and supervision should be the same for all class members. Alfa contends that these negligence and wantonness claims are inappropriate for class-action treatment because, it says, the training and supervision of Alfa agents was not uniform. Alfa also contends that each policyholder's plan was handled on an individual basis because a variety of methods was used by Alfa to remedy any problems created by the change in the tax law in 1986. As we concluded in Part III.A.i., individualized inquiries would be necessary to determine what training each Alfa agent received, the extent of his or her supervision, and whether his or her minimum-deposit payment presentation to a potential policyholder was consistent with that training. Moreover, as the plaintiff policyholders point out in their brief to this Court, Alfa dealt with each policyholders' complaint regarding the minimum-deposit plan as it arose. Therefore, we agree with Alfa that the policies were individually sold by individual agents who had received individual training, and the policies were individually handled according to the particular needs of each policyholder. Alfa's Reply Brief at p. 24. Individual issues predominate the common issues required to maintain the plaintiff policyholders' negligence and/or wantonness claims as a class action. Without individualized inquiries, the plaintiff policyholders cannot prove the training each Alfa agent received and/or how the agent was supervised, the notice each supervisor had, if any, regarding an Alfa agent's improper presentation of the minimum-deposit payment plan, and each Alfa agent's subsequent handling of each policyholder's plan. See Alfa Mut. Ins. Co. v. Roush, 723 So.2d 1250, 1256 (Ala.1998) (`Wantonness' has been defined by this Court as the conscious doing of some act or the omission of some duty, while knowing of the existing conditions and being conscious that, from doing or omitting to do an act, injury will likely or probably result.); AALAR, Ltd., Inc. v. Francis, 716 So.2d 1141, 1144 (Ala.1998) (The traditional elements of a negligence cause of action are a duty to a foreseeable plaintiff, breach of that duty, causation, and damage.); Lane v. Central Bank of Alabama, N.A., 425 So.2d 1098 (Ala.1983) (an essential element of negligent supervision is the employer's notice of the employee's improper conduct). We hold that the trial court should not have certified the plaintiff policyholders' negligence and/or wantonness claims as a class action.