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no liability exists for any acts taken by state employees working in a quasilegislative
or quasi‐judicial capacity.
Ohio Morris v. Investment Life Ins. Co. of America, 6 Ohio St.2d 185, 217 N.E.2d 202
(1966). The provisions for the insurance conservatorship procedure did not
supplant the court's former equitable powers and therefore, in an appropriate
conservatorship proceeding, the court may permit intervention by a materially
interested party, as statute did not preclude, as a matter of law, the remedy of
intervention. It is not an abuse of discretion to grant only a limited
intervention rather than permitting preliminary intervention by a shareholder
in the insurance conservatorship proceeding, and in any event, no prejudice
resulted when court dismissed the shareholder as a party but gave such
shareholder the right to be heard in support or opposition of any plan, where
the shareholder conceded that the shareholder's interests and those of
conservator had substantially merged and become identical.
Texas
Berkel v. Tex. Prop. & Cas. Ins. Guar. Ass’n, 92 S.W.3d 584 (Tex. App. 2002). The
court of appeals rejected the argument presented by the Texas Property and
Casualty Insurance Guaranty Association (“TPCIGA”) that a claim for attorney
fees could not be a “covered claim” as a matter of law in Texas. TPCIGA relied
on TEX. INS. CODE ANN. art. 21.28‐C, § 5(8), which provides that a “covered claim”
does not include attorney fees, expenses, or any pre‐judgment or postjudgment
interest that accrues subsequent to the determination that an insurer
is an impaired insurer. The court held that the provisions of TEX. INS. CODE ANN.
art. 21.28‐C, § 5(8) create a framework upon which a receiver may make
decisions about which claims were covered and at what amounts and did not
suggest an express prohibition to all claims for attorney fees. The receiver had
previously approved the plaintiff’s claim for attorney fees as a “covered claim,”
and at no time had that decision been challenged in the receivership
proceeding. The court held that the receiver’s decision that the Plaintiff’s
attorney fees were a “covered claim” became final as a matter of law when the
decision went unchallenged and the time for judicial review of the decision had
expired.
Utah Utah Farm Bureau Ins. Co. v. Utah Ins. Guar. Assoc., 564 P.2d 751 (Utah 1977).
Insurer brought declaratory judgment action against legislatively created
nonprofit, unincorporated association challenging the constitutionality of
Insurance Guaranty Association Act. The Supreme Court held that (1) the Act
was not a special Act in violation of constitutional provisions; (2)
classification in the Act that allowed certain insurers to be deferred or
exempt from assessments was not arbitrary and unreasonable or denial of
equal protection of the law; (3) the Act did not lead to arbitrary and
inequitable treatment of insurers due to improper delegation of authority
with ambiguous standards; and (4) the Act did not improperly delegate
legislative authority to the insurance commissioner.
Washington Washington Life & Disability Ins. Guaranty Assn. v. Adams, et al., 734 P.2d 932,
47 Wash. App. 213 (1987). The Washington Court of Appeals affirmed a
summary judgment against all shareholders of an insolvent insurer for
"superadded liability." Under Washington law, shareholders of insurance
companies are individually and personally liable for their pro rata share of all
debts of the corporation. The Washington Life Guaranty Association and the
Washington Commissioner filed suit to impose liability on the shareholders of
an insolvent insurer. The court determined that the provisions providing for
"superadded liability" were constitutional.