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Badillo v. Mid Century Insurance Co.6/21/2005
itted at the jury trial to warrant the trial court's decision to deny FIE's directed verdict quest as to said issue. Although we do not deem it necessary to detail all the evidence, or inferences therefrom, relevant to the issue, evidence was presented that FIE employees handled the claim and adjusted the claim, that MCIC and FIE are affiliated companies, both under the umbrella of the Farmers Insurance Group of Companies, and that FIE and MCIC acted as one entity in regard to insured's policy relating to the Smith claim. Evidence submitted at trial adequately showed FIE acted sufficiently like an insurer so that a special relationship could be said to exist between it and insured in relation to the Smith claim. Thus, the trial court did not err in denying FIE's motion for a directed verdict based on FIE's argument it had no duty of good faith and fair dealing toward insured as a non-party to the insurance contract.
FIE also argues the trial court erred by, in effect, directing a verdict in favor of insured on the above issue, i.e., that in submitting the matter to the jury, MCIC and FIE, although each were identified in the instructions and verdict forms, were treated as one for purposes of liability for breach of the duty of good faith and fair dealing. Our review of the trial record convinces us that is precisely what the trial court did, i.e., it treated the two entities as one for purposes of liability and ruled as a matter of law that both MCIC and FIE owed insured a duty of good faith and fair dealing. This does not, however, necessarily mean any error occurred.
Our review of the record shows that such ruling by the trial court was correct and we believe nothing contained in the trial record warranted submission to the jury for its consideration of any factual question concerning the potential for distinguishing between MCIC and FIE as to liability for breach of the duty of good faith and fair dealing. We believe no reasonable person viewing the evidence, and the reasonable inferences therefrom, could conclude anything other than FIE acted as if it was the insurer in its handling of the Smith claim and that it had a special relationship with insured such that it, like MCIC, was subject to the duty of good faith and fair dealing toward him. Where only one inference can reasonably be drawn from the evidence as to a material issue relating to a party's claim or defense, it is not error for a trial court to remove said issue from the jury's consideration and to direct a verdict thereon. See Agee v. Gant, 1966 OK 31, 412 P.2d 155, 156 (Third Syllabus by the Court)(question of negligence or no negligence is one of law for court where but one inference can reasonably be drawn from the evidence as to said issue). Nor is the question of whether an entity other than the named insurer on the applicable insurance policy may or may not be subject to the duty of good faith and fair dealing toward an insured always a question of fact for jury consideration. See Wathor (affirming summary judgment in favor of third-party administrator for a self-funded county health insurance program based on determination the undisputed facts presented entitled said administrator to judgment as a matter of law, as it could not be deemed to have sufficiently acted like an insurer to fasten a special relationship between it and the insured that would give rise to a duty of good faith and fair dealing on the part of the administrator toward the insured).
We also note that FIE's argument concerning the loaned or borrowed servant doctrine is unavailing. In such regard FIE asserts, in effect, although the people that handled the Smith claim were general employees of FIE said employees were loaned to MCIC such th
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