Bird v. Centennial ( 1993 )


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    United States Court of Appeals
    United States Court of Appeals
    For the First Circuit
    For the First Circuit
    ____________________

    No. 93-1363

    ALLAN S. BIRD, ETC.

    Plaintiff, Appellant,

    v.

    CENTENNIAL INSURANCE COMPANY,

    Defendant, Appellee.

    ____________________

    APPEAL FROM THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT

    FOR THE DISTRICT OF MASSACHUSETTS

    [Hon. Walter Jay Skinner, Senior U.S. District Judge]
    __________________________

    ____________________

    Before

    Torruella and Stahl, Circuit Judges,
    ______________
    and DiClerico,* U.S. District Judge.
    ___________________

    ____________________

    Robert B. Carpenter, with whom Louis J. Scerra, Jr., Donnalyn B.
    ___________________ ____________________ ____________
    L. Kahn, and Goldstein & Manello, P.C., were on brief for appellant.
    _______ _________________________
    George C. Rockas, with whom Paul R. Devin and Peabody & Arnold,
    _________________ ______________ ________________
    were on brief for appellee.


    ____________________

    December 1, 1993
    ____________________

    ____________________
    *Of the District of New Hampshire, sitting by designation.




















    STAHL, Circuit Judge. In this appeal, plaintiff-
    ______________

    appellant Allan S. Bird challenges the district court's entry

    of summary judgment against him and in favor of defendant-

    appellee Centennial Insurance Company on his claim that

    defendant breached two fidelity insurance policies ("the

    Policies"). After careful consideration of plaintiff's

    arguments, we affirm.

    I.
    I.
    __

    BACKGROUND
    BACKGROUND
    __________

    Plaintiff is the general partner of fifteen limited

    partnerships that own and operate residential multi-family

    housing projects throughout the United States. The projects

    are subsidized to varying degrees by the United States

    Department of Housing and Urban Development ("HUD"). To

    assist in the operation of the projects, the partnerships had

    entered into certain management agreements with Capital Site

    Management Company ("Capital") and/or Asset Management

    Corporation ("Asset"). Capital managed all of the projects

    until September 1987, at which time it became inactive. The

    agreements were then taken over by Asset, which can fairly be

    described as the corporate reincarnation of Capital.

    John Panagako was the president and treasurer of

    Capital and owned 50% of the company's stock. Panagako's

    wife, Janice Panagako, owned the other 50%. John and Janice

    Panagako were also the only directors of Capital; however,



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    Janice Panagako's duties were clerical and secretarial in

    nature. No formal directors' meetings were ever held.

    Asset's structure was identical to Capital's except for the

    fact that John Panagako was Asset's sole shareholder. It is

    clear from the record that John Panagako had complete control

    over both of these corporations.

    Each of the management agreements contained a

    provision requiring the managing agent, i.e., Capital or

    Asset, to procure fidelity insurance to protect against loss

    due to fraudulent or dishonest acts committed by its

    employees. In relevant part, the provision states:

    19. Fidelity Bond. The Agent will
    _____________________
    furnish, at his [sic] own expense, a
    fidality [sic] bond in the principal sum
    of at least an amount equal to the
    [project's] gross potential income for
    two months and is [sic] conditioned to
    ___ __ ___________ __
    protect the Owner and [the Secretary of
    _______ ___ _____ ___ ___ _________ __
    HUD and the mortgagee] against
    ___ ___ ___ _________
    misapplication of project funds by the
    Agent and its employees.1


    ____________________

    1. Plaintiff contends that the inclusion of this provision
    was mandated by HUD "regulations." However, the record does
    not reflect, and we cannot locate, any HUD regulation which
    __________
    affirmatively requires managing agents of HUD-subsidized
    properties to purchase fidelity bonds. Rather, it appears
    that plaintiff's argument is premised upon (1) a provision of
    the HUD Handbook, 4381.5 REV-1, which requires property
    managers to obtain fidelity coverage for both principals of
    the management entity and "all persons who participate
    directly or indirectly in the management and maintenance of
    the project and its assets, accounts and records"; and (2)
    the affidavit of G. Richard Dunnells, former Deputy Assistant
    Secretary for Housing Management at HUD, which states that
    the aforementioned Handbook provision was promulgated in
    response to 24 C.F.R. 207.10, which requires the mortgagor
    of HUD-insured properties "to keep the property insured by a

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    (Emphasis supplied). Apparently in response to this

    provision, Capital and Asset secured from defendant the

    Policies at issue in this litigation. In relevant part, the

    Policies provided coverage for the "[l]oss of money,

    securities and other property which the insured shall sustain

    . . . through any fraudulent or dishonest act or acts

    committed by any of the employees acting alone or in
    __ ___ __ ___ _________

    collusion with others." (Emphasis supplied). The term

    "employee" was then, in relevant part, defined as follows:

    [A]ny natural person (except a director
    or trustee of the insured, if a
    corporation, who is not also an officer
    or employee thereof in some other
    capacity) while in the regular service of
    the insured in the ordinary course of the
    insured's business during the Effective
    Period of this insuring form and whom the
    ___ ____ ___
    insured . . . has the right to govern and
    _______ ___ ___ _____ __ ______ ___
    direct in the performance of such
    ______ __ ___ ___________ __ ____
    service, but does not mean any broker,
    _______
    factor, commission merchant, consignee,
    contractor or agent or other
    representative of the same general
    character.

    (Emphasis supplied). Importantly, however, despite the

    directives of paragraph 19 of the management agreements, (1)

    only Capital and Asset were named as insureds under the

    Policies, and (2) the terms of the Policies excluded from






    ____________________

    standard policy or policies against fire and such other
    hazards as the Commissioner, upon the insurance of the
    mortgage, may stipulate."

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    4















    coverage misapplications by the managing agents, i.e., the

    insureds, themselves.2

    By February 1989, plaintiff had become concerned

    that John Panagako was making improper payments from project

    funds. Accordingly, plaintiff terminated the management

    agreements. Subsequently, plaintiff filed a state court

    action against John Panagako, Capital, and Asset for breach

    of fiduciary duty, breach of contract, conversion,

    misrepresentation, fraud, money had and received, breach of

    the covenant of good faith and fair dealing, and violation of

    the Massachusetts Unfair Trade Practices statute. See Bird
    ___ ____

    v. Capital Site Management Co., Civil No. 89-1713-C (Mass.
    ____________________________

    Super. Ct. 1989). A jury verdict was returned in plaintiff's

    favor on all counts, and damages were ultimately assessed at

    nearly $1.2 million.

    In July 1990, plaintiff initiated the instant

    action in Massachusetts Superior Court, asserting that he was

    entitled to collect as a third-party beneficiary under the

    Policies. Defendant removed the case to the district court

    and subsequently moved for summary judgment, arguing that no

    coverage existed because plaintiff was not an insured under

    the Policies. Thereafter, plaintiff obtained an assignment


    ____________________

    2. Specifically, Exclusion A of the Policies provided:
    "This insuring form does not apply . . . to loss due to any
    fraudulent, dishonest or criminal act by any insured or a
    partner therein, whether acting alone or in collusion with
    others . . . ."

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    of all the right, title, and interest of Capital and Asset in

    the Policies, and moved for leave to file an amended

    complaint so as to jettison his third-party beneficiary

    theory and assert in its place an entitlement to coverage as

    a direct beneficiary under the Policies. The motion for

    leave to file the amended complaint was allowed.

    In January 1992, defendant filed a second motion

    for summary judgment, arguing primarily that plaintiff could

    not collect under the Policies because the fraudulent and

    dishonest acts giving rise to the claim were not committed by

    an "employee" of the insureds, but instead were committed by

    the insureds' "alter ego."3 Plaintiff opposed the motion,

    arguing inter alia, that defendant should be estopped from
    _____ ____

    denying coverage under the policies. He also filed a

    conditional motion, pursuant to Fed. R. Civ. P. 56(f),4 for


    ____________________

    3. We use the term "alter ego" as a shorthand way of
    identifying any natural person whom the corporate insured
    does not have "the right to govern and direct in the
    performance of [his/her] service." As noted previously,
    under the terms of the Policies, such an alter ego is not
    considered an employee of the corporate insured. And,
    because the Policies only cover fraudulent or dishonest acts
    by employees of the corporate insureds, fraudulent or
    dishonest acts by an alter ego of the insureds are outside
    the scope of coverage.

    4. Rule 56(f) provides:

    When Affidavits are Unavailable. Should it
    When Affidavits are Unavailable.
    appear from the affidavits of a party opposing the
    [Rule 56] motion that the party cannot for reasons
    stated present by affidavit facts essential to
    justify the party's opposition, the court may
    refuse the application for judgment or may order a

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    further discovery relevant to his newly-raised estoppel

    argument. In February 1993, the district court issued a

    memorandum and order granting defendant's second motion for

    summary judgment. In so doing, the court held that John

    Panagako was not an employee of the insureds, and that the

    Policies therefore did not cover his fraudulent and/or

    dishonest acts. See supra note 3. It also rejected
    ___ _____

    plaintiff's estoppel argument, reasoning that the doctrine of

    "unclean hands" barred any recovery by plaintiff. Finally,

    the court denied plaintiff's Rule 56(f) motion. It is from

    these decisions that plaintiff appeals.

    II.
    II.
    ___

    SUMMARY JUDGMENT STANDARD
    SUMMARY JUDGMENT STANDARD
    _________________________

    Summary judgment permits a court to "``pierce the

    boilerplate of the pleadings and assay the parties' proof in

    order to determine whether trial is actually required.'"

    Santiago v. Sherwin Williams Co., 3 F.3d 546, 548 (1st Cir.
    ________ _____________________

    1993) (quoting Wynne v. Tufts Univ. Sch. of Medicine, 976
    _____ ______________________________

    F.2d 791, 794 (1st Cir. 1992), cert. denied, 113 S. Ct. 1845
    _____ ______

    (1993)). It must be granted when "the pleadings,

    depositions, answers to interrogatories, and admissions on

    file, together with the affidavits, if any, show that there

    is no genuine issue as to any material fact and that the


    ____________________

    continuance to permit affidavits to be obtained or
    depositions to be taken or discovery to be had or
    may make such other order as is just.

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    moving party is entitled to a judgment as a matter of law."

    Fed. R. Civ. P. 56(c). Our review of the allowance of a

    summary judgment motion is plenary. Levy v. FDIC, No. 92-
    ____ ____

    2135, slip op. at 6 (1st Cir. Oct. 19, 1993).

    It is against this backdrop that we evaluate

    plaintiff's contentions.

    III.
    III.
    ____

    DISCUSSION5

    DISCUSSION5
    ___________

    Plaintiff essentially makes three arguments on

    appeal: (1) that the district court erred in concluding, as

    a matter of law, that the fraudulent and dishonest acts

    giving rise to plaintiff's claim were not committed by an

    employee of the insureds, but instead were committed by the

    insureds' alter ego; (2) that the court erred in rejecting

    his claim that defendant should, as a matter of law, be

    estopped from denying coverage under the Policies; and (3)

    that the court erred in denying his alternative Rule 56(f)

    motion for additional discovery on the issue of estoppel. We

    discuss each argument in turn.

    A. Was John Panagako an Employee of Capital and Allied
    A. Was John Panagako an Employee of Capital and Allied
    ________________________________________________________
    or was he their Alter Ego?
    or was he their Alter Ego?
    __________________________


    ____________________

    5. Because the parties agree that Massachusetts law governs
    this dispute, and because there is at least a "reasonable
    relation" between the dispute and the forum whose law has
    been selected by the parties, we will forego an independent
    analysis of the choice-of-law issue and apply Massachusetts
    law. See Commercial Union Ins. Co. v. Walbrook Ins. Co.,
    ___ __________________________ ___________________
    Ltd., No. 92-2415, slip op. at 2, n.1 (1st Cir. Sept. 28,
    ____
    1993).

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    The bulk of plaintiff's brief is directed at

    attacking the district court's ruling that Panagako was an

    alter ego, and not an employee, of the corporate insureds.

    The attack primarily is carried out on two fronts. First,

    accepting the district court's conclusion that the definition

    of the term "employee" is unambiguous, plaintiff argues that

    the court erred in concluding that John Panagako fell outside

    the definition's boundaries. Second, and alternatively,

    plaintiff argues that the definition of the term employee is

    ambiguous, and that this ambiguity must be resolved in his

    favor under Massachusetts law. E.g., Massachusetts Bay
    ____ _________________

    Transp. Auth. v. Allianz Ins. Co., Inc., 597 N.E.2d 439, 441
    _____________ _______________________

    (Mass. 1992).6 We disagree with both of plaintiff's

    positions.

    1. Plaintiff's First Argument
    1. Plaintiff's First Argument
    ______________________________

    In addressing plaintiff's first argument, that the

    Policies unambiguously provide coverage for the fraudulent

    and/or dishonest acts committed by John Panagako, we begin



    ____________________

    6. Relying on a series of cases regarding corporate "veil
    piercing," and defining the "alter ego defense" here at issue
    as the mere defensive application of this veil piercing
    doctrine, plaintiff also devotes several pages of his brief
    to arguing that Massachusetts courts would not recognize the
    defense. Plaintiff's argument in this regard is
    fundamentally flawed. The alter ego defense asserted by
    defendant is not a common law defense; rather, it is a
    ___
    defense derived from the language of the Policies themselves.
    ___ ________ __ ___ ________ __________
    As such, the common law tort cases relied upon by plaintiff
    in his reverse veil piercing argument are inapposite to the
    contract dispute before us.

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    with some general ground rules for interpreting insurance

    contracts. The construction of language in an insurance

    contract is a legal determination, see J.I. Corp. v. Federal
    ___ __________ _______

    Ins. Co., 920 F.2d 118, 119 (1st Cir. 1990) (collecting
    _________

    Massachusetts cases), which we review de novo, see Falmouth
    __ ____ ___ ________

    Nat'l Bank v. Ticor Title Ins. Co., 920 F.2d 1058, 1061 (1st
    __________ ____________________

    Cir. 1990). Where there is no ambiguity in the language at

    issue, we will interpret it "according to the ordinary

    meaning of the words contained in its provisions." J.I.
    ____

    Corp., 920 F.2d at 119. The language of a contract is
    _____

    considered ambiguous only if its terms "are fairly

    susceptible to more than one construction." Id.
    ___

    Where the intention of the parties as to who are

    employees is expressed in a fidelity policy, that intention

    will be given effect. See 13 Ronald A. Anderson and Mark S.
    ___

    Rhodes, Couch on Insurance 2d, 46:25 at 33 (1982). Here,
    ______________________

    the parties agreed that, inter alia, only those natural
    _____ ____

    persons "whom the insured . . . has the right to govern and

    direct in the performance of [their] service" would be

    "employees" covered by the Policies. Thus, if John Panagako

    was not subject to governance and direction by Capital and/or

    Allied, he was not an employee of the insureds as that term

    is defined by the Policies.

    As we have said, the record clearly reveals that

    John Panagako was not subject to governance and direction by



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    Capital or Allied, in that he was in complete control of both

    corporations. He owned 50% of Capital's and 100% of Allied's

    stock and was the president and treasurer of both

    corporations. He and his wife Janice, whose duties were

    clerical and secretarial in nature, were the only two

    directors of the corporations. No formal directors' meetings

    were ever held.

    Indeed, plaintiff does not dispute the fact that

    John Panagako was in complete control of Capital and Allied.

    Instead, he premises his challenge to the district court's

    determination that Panagako was not an employee upon two

    contentions: (1) that the corporations had the theoretical

    right to govern and direct Panagako, making him an employee

    under the terms of the Policies; and (2) that "the right to

    govern and direct language was merely intended to distinguish

    those persons within the corporation[s] whose acts are not

    covered by the Policies (i.e., employees) from those persons

    outside of the corporation[s] whose acts are not covered by

    the Policies (i.e., independent contractors and the like)."

    With respect to plaintiff's first contention, we

    join those courts that have passed on the issue and reject

    the claim that the theoretical right to govern and direct a

    dominant corporate actor is sufficient to render that actor

    an employee under the definition of employee set forth in the

    Policies. See Employer's Admin. Servs., Inc. v. Hartford
    ___ ________________________________ ________



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    Accident and Indem. Co., 709 P.2d 559, 562-63 (Ariz. App.
    ________________________

    1985); Kerr v. Aetna Casualty & Surety Co., 350 F.2d 146,
    ____ _____________________________

    154-55 (4th Cir. 1965); see also, e.g., Matter of World
    ___ ____ ____ ________________

    Hospitality Ltd., 983 F.2d 650, 651-53 (5th Cir. 1993)
    _________________

    (interpreting identical "right to govern and direct" language

    in a fidelity policy as excluding from the definition of

    employee a majority shareholder who dominated his

    corporation); California Union Ins. v. American Diversified
    ______________________ ____________________

    Sav. Bank, 948 F.2d 556, 566 (9th Cir. 1991) (same); Three
    _________ _____

    Garden Village Ltd. Partnership v. United States Fidelity &
    ________________________________ _________________________

    Guar. Co., 567 A.2d 85, 90-92 (Md. 1989) (same). We think it
    _________

    apparent that the "right" to govern and direct referred to in

    the Policies must be more than an ephemeral right inhering

    generally in the corporate form; rather, it must have some

    grounding in reality. Cf. Kerr, 350 F.2d at 154 (describing
    ___ ____

    corporation's "right," under circumstances similar to those

    presented here, as "unrealistic" and "theoretical"). In this

    case, the argument that Capital and Allied had the right to

    govern and direct John Panagako lacks any credible basis.

    Accordingly, we do not accept it. Cf. J.I. Corp., 920 F.2d
    ___ __________

    at 119 (insurance contracts should be construed according to

    the "``fair and reasonable meaning of the words in which the
    ____ __________

    agreement of the parties is expressed'") (emphasis supplied)







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    (quoting Cody v. Connecticut Gen. Life Ins. Co., 439 N.E.2d
    ____ ______________________________

    234, 237 (Mass. 1986)).7

    With respect to plaintiff's second contention, we

    think it sufficient to state that the interpretation

    plaintiff would have us ascribe to the "right to govern and

    direct" language in the Policies is tortured to the point of

    absurdity. It is obvious that this language, far from being

    included merely to distinguish employees from those non-

    employee actors specified in the Policies, materially limits

    the definition of the term "employee" to those persons over

    whom the corporate insureds have control. Accordingly, we so



    ____________________

    7. Our conclusion also is supported by policy
    considerations. As the Fifth Circuit has observed:

    A corporation can only act through its officers and
    directors. When one person owns a controlling
    interest in the corporation and dominates the
    corporation's actions, his acts are the
    corporation's acts. Allowing the corporation to
    recover for the owner's fraudulent or dishonest
    conduct would essentially allow the corporation to
    recover for its own fraudulent or dishonest acts.
    The [fidelity] bonds, however, were clearly
    designed to insure the corporations against their
    employee's [sic] dishonest acts and not their own
    dishonest acts.

    Matter of World Hospitality, 983 F.2d at 652 (citing
    _______________________________
    California Union Ins., 948 F.2d at 566). The fact that
    ______________________
    plaintiff, and not the insureds, is seeking coverage under
    the Policies does not diminish the force of these
    considerations in this case, for plaintiff is pressing his
    claim as an assignee. As such, his rights under the Policies
    are limited to those of the assignors. See 17 Couch on
    ___ _________
    Insurance 2d, 63A:267 at 146 (1983) ("It must be recognized
    ____________
    that the assignee can receive no greater rights than those of
    the assignor.").

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    read it. Cf. Plymouth Rubber Co. Inc. v. Insurance Co. of N.
    ___ ________________________ ___________________

    Am., 465 N.E.2d 1234, 1238 (Mass. App. 1984) (declining to
    ___

    "torture" the meaning of a clause in an insurance contract

    where it was understandable in its "usual and ordinary

    sense") (citation omitted).

    2. Plaintiff's Second Argument
    2. Plaintiff's Second Argument
    _______________________________

    Plaintiff's second and alternative argument, that

    the definition of the term "employee" is ambiguous and that

    this ambiguity must be resolved in his favor, requires little

    discussion. In making his alternative argument, plaintiff

    does not explain how the definition of the term might be

    ambiguous. Nor does he make any attempt either to

    distinguish or to disagree with the several cases which have

    treated this very definition as unambiguous. See, e.g.,
    ___ ____

    Matter of World Hospitality, 983 F.2d at 651-53; California
    ____________________________ __________

    Union Ins., 948 F.2d at 566-67; Three Garden Village, 567
    ___________ _____________________

    A.2d at 90-92; Employer's Admin. Servs., 709 P.2d at 562.
    _________________________

    Accordingly, his argument being perfunctory, we deem it

    waived. See United States v. Innamorati, 996 F.2d 456, 468
    ___ _____________ __________

    (1st Cir.) (issues adverted to in a perfunctory manner and

    without developed argumentation deemed waived on appeal),

    cert. denied, 62 U.S.L.W. 3320 (Nov. 2, 1993).8
    _____ ______


    ____________________

    8. In that section of his brief where plaintiff
    perfunctorily asserts that the terms "employee" and
    "insured," see infra note 9, are ambiguous, he also seeks to
    ___ _____
    introduce extrinsic evidence that the Policies at issue were
    mandated by HUD "regulations," but see supra note 1. In so
    ___ ___ _____

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    In sum, we reject plaintiff's challenge to the

    district court's determination that John Panagako was not an

    employee, but rather was an alter ego, of the insureds.9

    B. Should Defendant be Estopped from Denying Coverage
    B. Should Defendant be Estopped from Denying Coverage
    ________________________________________________________
    Under the Policies?
    Under the Policies?
    ___________________

    Plaintiff's second argument, that the district

    court erred in refusing, as a matter of law, to hold

    defendant estopped from denying coverage, is based upon his

    claim that defendant knew of Capital's and Allied's corporate

    structures at the time the Policies were issued. See
    ___

    Fidelity and Deposit Co. v. USAFORM Hail Pool, Inc., 318 F.
    _________________________ ________________________

    Supp. 1301, 1305, 1308-09 (M.D. Fla. 1970) (insurer estopped

    from asserting alter ego defense where, inter alia, it (1)
    _____ ____

    stipulated that the dominant shareholder was an employee


    ____________________

    doing, he asserts that this fact will help to enlighten us as
    to the meaning of these purportedly ambiguous terms. See
    ___
    Rodriguez-Abreu v. Chase Manhattan Bank, N.A., 986 F.2d 580,
    _______________ __________________________
    586 (1st Cir. 1993) (extrinsic evidence admissible to clarify
    ambiguous contractual provisions).
    Even if we were to assume arguendo the truth of
    ________
    plaintiff's assertion, we do not see how such fact would tend
    to clarify anything at issue in this litigation. At most,
    the "regulations" to which plaintiff draws our attention tend
    to reinforce the perception that the Policies were not
    written in accordance with the specifications of HUD and
    paragraph 19 of the management agreements. They do not,
    ___
    however, shed light on what the parties intended when they
    included the disputed terms in the Policies.

    9. Because we so rule, we need not reach defendant's other
    proffered basis for affirmance, i.e., that Exclusion A, see
    ___
    supra note 2, is applicable because John Panagako, as the
    _____
    alter ego of Capital and Allied, was an "insured" under the
    terms of the Policies. Nor, obviously, need we discuss
    plaintiff's cursory argument that the meaning of the term
    "insured" in Exclusion A is ambiguous.

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    under the fidelity bond, and (2) "knew everything" about the

    insured's operation), affirmed in part, vacated in part, 463
    ________ __ ____ _______ __ ____

    F.2d 4 (5th Cir. 1972). While we think that the USAFORM case
    _______

    is easily distinguishable from the present situation, we

    believe that plaintiff's estoppel claim founders for an even

    simpler reason. As the district court noted, because

    plaintiff is proceeding as the assignee of Capital's and

    Allied's rights under the Policies, he is subject to any

    defenses that defendant could have interposed against Capital

    and Allied, the assignors. See Great Am. Ins. Co. v. United
    ___ __________________ ______

    States, 575 F.2d 1031, 1034 (2d Cir. 1978). One defense to
    ______

    the equitable claim of estoppel is the doctrine of "unclean

    hands." See Peabody Gas & Oil Co. v. Standard Oil Co., 187
    ___ _____________________ ________________

    N.E. 112, 113 (Mass. 1933) ("[O]ne must come into a court of

    equity with clean hands in order to secure relief . . . .").

    Here, Capital and Allied were adjudged liable for the

    fraudulent and/or dishonest actions underlying this suit. As

    such, the district court correctly ruled that any claim of

    estoppel they might have asserted against defendant would

    have failed because of their unclean hands. Plaintiff, as

    their assignee, is therefore subject to the same fate.

    Accordingly, we reject plaintiff's challenge to the

    district court's refusal to hold defendant estopped from

    denying coverage.

    C. Should Plaintiff's Rule 56(f) Motion Have Been
    C. Should Plaintiff's Rule 56(f) Motion Have Been
    ________________________________________________________
    Granted?
    Granted?
    ________


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    Finally, plaintiff contends that the court erred in

    denying his Rule 56(f) motion for additional discovery on the

    issue of estoppel. Once again, his argument is without

    merit.

    Rule 56(f) offers an "``escape hatch'" to a party

    opposing a summary judgment motion who "genuinely requires

    additional time to marshal ``facts essential to justify its

    opposition.'" Mattoon v. City of Pittsfield, 980 F.2d 1, 7
    _______ __________________

    (1st Cir. 1992) (quoting Paterson-Leitch Co. v. Massachusetts
    ___________________ _____________

    Mun. Wholesale Elec. Co., 840 F.2d 985, 988 (1st Cir. 1988)).
    ________________________

    Under Rule 56(f), the movant is required (1) to articulate a

    plausible basis for its belief that the requested discovery

    would raise a trialworthy issue, and (2) to demonstrate good

    cause for failing to have conducted the discovery earlier.

    Mattoon, 980 F.2d at 7. Our review of an order denying
    _______

    relief under Rule 56(f) is only for an abuse of discretion.

    Id.
    ___

    As we have stated, plaintiff's estoppel argument is

    doomed by the fact that, as an assignee, plaintiff is subject

    to defendant's unclean hands defense. Moreover, the record

    reveals that this defense must prevail as a matter of law.

    It therefore follows that there is no need for discovery on

    the issue of estoppel.

    Accordingly, the district court did not abuse its

    discretion in denying plaintiff's Rule 56(f) motion.



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    IV.
    IV.
    ___

    CONCLUSION
    CONCLUSION
    __________

    For the reasons herein stated, the district court

    did not err in granting defendant's second motion for summary

    judgment and denying plaintiff's Rule 56(f) motion for

    additional discovery.

    Affirmed. Costs to appellee.
    Affirmed.
    _________







































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