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Goot v. Metropolitan Government of Nashville and Davidson County11/9/2005
understanding of the waiver of premium provision, its portrayal of the provision throughout the proceedings leading up to the trial was essentially identical to the understanding of the surviving spouses. The Metropolitan Government's posture throughout the pretrial proceedings would have led a reasonable person to infer that the Metropolitan Government was conceding the existence of the group life insurance contract containing the waiver of premium provision for disabled employees and the specific terms of the waiver of premium provision.
A court's ability to address its workload fairly and efficiently depends in large measure on the consistency and clarity of the parties' claims and defenses. Monroe County Motor Co. v. Tennessee Odin Ins. Co., 33 Tenn. App. 223, 231, 231 S.W.2d 386, 390 (1950) (holding that the rule preventing litigants from taking inconsistent positions is "necessary to the orderly dispatch of litigation"). Thus, litigants will not be permitted to play fast and loose with the courts or with their adversaries by taking inconsistent or contrary positions. Johnston v. Cincinnati, N.O. & T.P. Ry., 146 Tenn. 135, 159, 240 S.W. 429, 436 (1922); Webber v. Webber, 109 S.W.3d 357, 359 (Tenn. Ct. App. 2003); Cothron v. Scott, 60 Tenn. App. 298, 304, 446 S.W.2d 533, 535-36 (1969).
The Metropolitan Government's claim that it was entitled to a directed verdict because the surviving spouses did not introduce a copy of the group life insurance contract containing the waiver of premium provision is inconsistent with its position during all the pretrial proceedings. This suit involves an alleged breach of an employment contract, not a group life insurance contract. There was no dispute prior to the trial regarding the existence or the terms of the group life insurance contract. The only possible disputes involved the adequacy of the employees' notice of the waiver of the premium provision, whether the plaintiffs' spouses met the age and disability requirements of the provision, and, if they did, the amount of the benefit. Thus, just as the Metropolitan Government's failure to file an answer prevented it from belatedly asserting a statute of limitations defense, its failure to deny the existence of the group life insurance contract or the terms of the waiver of premium provision should have undermined its request for a directed verdict on the ground that the surviving spouses did not establish the existence of the waiver of premium benefit by introducing a copy of the group life insurance contract.
The Metropolitan Government has always been in the best position to know the precise terms of the group life insurance contract and the waiver of premium provision. After all, it is one of the parties to the group life insurance contract, and the contract has been in its possession and under its control throughout the litigation. Its own employees testified regarding the relevant provisions of the contract, and their testimony was entirely consistent with the surviving spouses' testimony regarding their understanding of the contract. There was no material factual dispute regarding the operative provisions of the group life insurance contract or the waiver of premium provision. Accordingly, the Metropolitan Government was not entitled to a directed verdict on the surviving spouses' breach of employment contract claim.
During their case-in-chief, the surviving spouses presented proof (1) that each spouse was less than sixty years of age when he became disabled, (2) that each spouse was disabled enough to qualify for the waiver of premium benefit, (3) that each spouse would have qualified for the waiver of premium benefit had they been informed of the benefit in a timely ma
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