Opinion ID: 483347
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: facts

Text: 2 Leo Magyar, a septuagenarian immigrant from Eastern Europe, has lived in the United States for some 20 years. In April 1983 he brought suit in state court against United Fire Insurance Co. (United), which had issued him five health insurance policies. He alleged that United had wrongfully denied him benefits for stays in medical facilities in Hungary and Czechoslovakia. United, a New York corporation with its principal place of business in Illinois, removed the case to federal court. United filed its answer to the complaint in June 1983. Neither side demanded a jury trial. 3 The first district judge to whom the case was assigned issued a pretrial order in November 1983 in which he set a preliminary date for a jury trial. By October 1984, however, the case was transferred to another judge who set the case for a bench trial in her final pretrial order. Trial began in June 1985 and the first witness was Mr. Magyar. His testimony was marred from the start by nonresponsive and argumentative answers. On the second day of testimony, United began its cross-examination and Mr. Magyar's testimony became even more nonresponsive. The district court finally warned Mr. Magyar that, if his answers continued to be nonresponsive, she would strike his testimony altogether. Mr. Magyar said he understood, but his very next answer was nonresponsive. See p. 4 n. 2 infra. True to her word, the district judge struck Mr. Magyar's testimony in its entirety. She then invited the Magyars' lawyer to proceed with the balance of plaintiffs' case. The lawyer stated she had no more witnesses to call. The court thereupon dismissed the action under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 41(b).