IN THE IOWA DISTRICT COURT IN AND FOR DUBUQUE COUNTY. Plaintiffs, Case No: PETITION THE PARTIES

Transcription

1 IN THE IOWA DISTRICT COURT IN AND FOR DUBUQUE COUNTY QUINTON DURUJI, on Behalf of Himself and all Others Similarly Situated; vs. Plaintiffs, Case No: PLATINUM SERVICES, INC. n/k/a PLATINUM SUPPLEMENTAL INSURANCE, INC.; WAYNE BRIGGS, Defendants. PETITION COMES NOW Plaintiff, and for cause of action against Defendants states as follows: THE PARTIES 1. Defendant Platinum Services, Inc., n/k/a Platinum Supplemental Insurance, Inc., (hereinafter Platinum ) is an Iowa corporation having its general headquarters located in Dubuque, Dubuque County, Iowa. 2. Platinum is engaged in the sales and service of certain supplemental insurance products generally in various Midwestern states. 3. Defendant Wayne Briggs ( Briggs ) is a resident of Dubuque, Iowa, and is the President of Platinum. 4. Plaintiff Quinton Duruji is a resident of the State of Minnesota. 5. Other persons similarly situated (the Putative Class or Putative Class Members ) are residents of various other states within the continental United States. VENUE AND JURISDICTION 6. Jurisdiction and Venue are proper as the Defendants are found in Dubuque County, Iowa and many of the acts complained of occurred in Dubuque County, Iowa.

2 GENERAL ALLEGATIONS 7. Plaintiff and Putative Class Members are former agents of Platinum. 8. Plaintiff and Putative Class Members executed various Agent Agreements, which purport to govern the relationship between agent and Platinum; specifically providing that Platinum will pay agents commission for selling its insurance products. 9. Under the Agent Agreements, agents receive a relatively larger percentage of commission on premiums paid by customers in the first year of the insurance policy. 10. Under the Agent Agreements, agents receive a relatively smaller percentage of commission on premiums paid by customers in subsequent years of an insurance policy, called renewal commissions. 11. Under the Agent Agreements, Platinum remains obligated to pay renewal commissions after termination of the Agent Agreement, subject to the terms of the Agent Agreements. 12. The Agent Agreements provide that Platinum is responsible for preparing and delivering to the agent a statement summarizing the basis and calculation for each commission payment. COUNT I - CIVIL AIDING AND ABETTING OF TORTIOUS CONDUCT AGAINST DEFENDANTS PLATINUM AND WAYNE BRIGGS 13. The allegations of paragraphs 1-12 are incorporated as though fully set forth herein. 14. Current and former agents of Platinum solicited customers that had been sold insurance policies by Plaintiff or Putative Class Members to convince them to replace their insurance policy with a new policy. 15. Such agents used misrepresentations they knew to be false to convince such customers to replace their policies. 16. Such agents knew that Plaintiff or Putative Class Members and Defendant Platinum had a contract for insurance policies sales and commissions. 17. Such agents knew that the customers they solicited had policies sold by Plaintiff or Putative Class Members, and that by inducing the customers to replace their policies Plaintiff or Putative Class Members would receive reduced commission payments under their contracts with Platinum. 18. Such agents interference with the contracts between Platinum and Plaintiff or Putative Class Members was intentional. 19. The interference caused Plaintiff and Putative Class Members damages in lost

3 commissions resulting from the replaced policies. 20. Defendants Platinum and Briggs knew of the intentional interference with the contracts between Platinum and Plaintiff or Putative Class Members committed by their agents. 21. Defendants Platinum and Briggs gave substantial assistance to their agents in intentionally interfering with the contracts between Platinum and Plaintiff or Putative Class Members, including but not limited to encouraging or ordering agents to pursue sales to customers of Plaintiff or Putative Class Members, and providing such agents with contact information for customers of Plaintiff or Putative Class Members. CLASS ACTION ALLEGATIONS 22. Plaintiff, on behalf of himself and as a representative of the Putative Class, pursuant to the Iowa Rules of Civil Procedure 1.261(1) and (2); Rule 1.262(2) and Rule 1.263(2) describe the Putative Class as follows: All former agents of Platinum who have had insurance policies sold to customers replaced by other agents of Platinum, in circumstances where such other agents intentionally interfered with the contract between a Putative Class Member and Platinum, and where Platinum or Wayne Briggs knew of and substantially assisted in such interference. 23. Plaintiff is informed and believes that the Putative Class Members number in the hundreds and reside throughout the United States and their joinder is therefore impracticable. 24. There exist in this action questions of law and fact common to all Putative Class Members and the separate adjudication of these issues by each of the Putative Class Members would be impracticable and inefficient and would create a risk of inconsistent judgments. Therefore, a class action should be permitted for the fair and efficient adjudication of the controversy. Common questions of law and fact include, but are not limited to: a. Whether Plaintiff and Putative Class Members were agents for Defendant Platinum pursuant to Agent Agreements; b. What are the terms of the Agent Agreements; c. Whether agents of Platinum intentionally and improperly interfered with the Agent Agreements by selling replacement policies to the customers of Plaintiff or Putative Class Members; d. Whether agents of Platinum misrepresented material information to customers of Plaintiff or Putative Class Members to sell them replacement policies

4 e. Whether Platinum and Briggs new of such intentional and improper interference and substantially assisted in it. f. The nature and extent of the damages to Plaintiff and Putative Class Members caused by such intentional and improper interference. 25. The answers to the questions of law and fact common to Plaintiff and Putative Class Members will be discernible from the same sources of evidence, including but not limited to: a. The testimony of current and former agents of Platinum regarding the Agent Agreements, the terms thereof, and the commission payments received pursuant to the Agent Agreements; b. The testimony of current and former employees, officers, and directors of Platinum regarding whether Platinum agents targeted the customers of Plaintiff and Putative Class Members to intentionally and improperly interfere with the contracts of Plaintiff and Putative Class Members; c. The Agent Agreements themselves; d. Records relating to customers who have policies through Platinum and through the Plaintiff and Putative Class Members, and records regarding any replacement of such policies; e. Records tending to show whether Platinum and Briggs knew of and substantially assisted agents in targeting customers of former Platinum agents to solicit new policies and interfere with the contracts of Plaintiff and Putative Class Members. 26. There is nothing regarding this Class which would pose unusual difficulties in the case management and there are no conflicts of law issues. 27. Plaintiff and his counsel will thoroughly and adequately represent the interests of the Putative Class and they do not have a conflict of interest in the maintenance of this class action. Plaintiff and his counsel have adequate resources, pursuant to Iowa R. Civ. Pr , to prosecute this action. 28. The common questions of law and fact involved in this action predominate over any questions affecting only individual Putative Class Members, and a class action is superior to other available methods for the fair and efficient adjudication of the matters alleged herein.

5 PRAYER FOR RELIEF WHEREFORE, Plaintiff and Putative Class Members demand judgment against Defendant Platinum Services, Inc. n/k/a Platinum Supplemental Insurance, Inc. and Defendant Wayne Briggs in an amount sufficient to compensate Plaintiff and Putative Class Members for the intentional interference committed by agents of Platinum and knowingly and substantially assisted by Platinum and Briggs; for punitive damages in an amount sufficient to deter Defendants and other similarly situated from similar behavior in the future; the costs of this action, including attorney s fees; and any and all other relief which this court deems equitable and just. JURY DEMAND COME NOW Plaintiff and the Putative Class, and hereby request trial by jury of the above-captioned matter. QUINTON DURUJI, on behalf of himself and all others similarly situated, Plaintiff By /s/ Flint Drake D. Flint Drake By /s/ Samuel M. DeGree Samuel M. DeGree Drake Law Firm, P.C. 300 Main Street, Suite 323 Dubuque, Iowa Telephone: (563) Facsimile: (563) fdrake@drakelawpc.com ATTORNEYS FOR PLAINTIFF