Renato Openiano v. Hartford Life and Annuity Ins. ( 2020 )

NOT FOR PUBLICATION FILED
UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS NOV 20 2020
MOLLY C. DWYER, CLERK
U.S. COURT OF APPEALS
FOR THE NINTH CIRCUIT
RENATO OPENIANO, an individual, No. 19-56206
Plaintiff-Appellant, D.C. No.
3:18-cv-00943-AJB-AGS
v.
HARTFORD LIFE AND ANNUITY MEMORANDUM*
INSURANCE COMPANY, FKA ITT
Hartford Life and Annuity Insurance
Company, a corporation; ITT HARTFORD
LIFE AND ANNUITY INSURANCE
COMPANY, a corporation; DOES, 1-100
inclusive,
Defendants-Appellees.
Appeal from the United States District Court
for the Southern District of California
Anthony J. Battaglia, District Judge, Presiding
Submitted November 18, 2020**
San Francisco, California
Before: O’SCANNLAIN, TROTT, and N.R. SMITH, Circuit Judges.
Partial Concurrence and Partial Dissent by Judge N.R. SMITH
*
This disposition is not appropriate for publication and is not precedent
except as provided by Ninth Circuit Rule 36-3.
**
The panel unanimously concludes this case is suitable for decision
without oral argument. See Fed. R. App. P. 34(a)(2).
Renato Openiano challenges the district court’s grant of judgment on the
pleadings in favor of Hartford Life and Annuity Insurance Company. As the facts
are known to the parties, we repeat them only as necessary to explain our decision.
This Court has jurisdiction under 28 U.S.C. § 1291.
I
The district court properly dismissed as time-barred Openiano’s claims
relating to the missing 1998 check because the applicable limitations periods were
all expired by at least 16 years when he filed suit. See City of Vista v. Robert
Thomas Sec., Inc., 101 Cal. Rptr. 2d 237, 241 (2000) (breach of fiduciary duty);
Cal. Civ. Proc. Code § 337(1) (breach of contract); id. § 338(d) (constructive fraud
and fraud); id. § 339(1) (bad faith); Cal. Bus. & Prof. Code §17208 (unfair
competition).
The statutes of limitations were not tolled by California’s “Delayed
Discovery Rule” because Openiano had notice of the facts constituting his claims
when they accrued in 1998. See Jolly v. Eli Lilly & Co., 44 Cal. 3d 1103,
1110 (1988). The district court need not have “accept[ed] as true” his allegation
that he did not “discover” his injury until 2015, because it is a legally “conclusory
statement” (as opposed to a genuinely factual allegation). Ashcroft v. Iqbal, 556
U.S. 662, 678 (2009). Openiano’s argument for tolling based on his alleged mental
disability is waived because he disclaimed it in the district court. See United States
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v. Rubalcaba, 811 F.2d 491, 493 (9th Cir. 1987).
II
The district court properly held that Openiano failed to state claims for
fraud, breach of contract, or bad faith in relation to Hartford’s cancellation of the
duplicative loan check it sent in 2015.
Regarding the fraud claim, Openiano’s assignment of error hangs on his
contention that the district court failed to accept as true his allegation that there
was no duplicative check. Such allegation was contradicted, however, by exhibits
attached to Openiano’s own complaint, which contain references to the fact that the
non-cancelled duplicative check “is check number 910358.” It is well-settled that
when ruling on Rule 12(b)(6) and 12(c) motions, courts may consider materials
attached as exhibits to the complaint under attack. E.g., Amfac Mortg. Corp. v.
Ariz. Mall of Tempe, Inc., 583 F.2d 426, 429–30 & n. 2 (9th Cir. 1978). And where
attached exhibits “contradict” allegations in the complaint, the court need not
accept such allegations as true. Sprewell v. Golden State Warriors, 266 F.3d 979,
988, 989, amended on other grounds, 275 F. 3d 1187 (9th Cir. 2001). At bottom,
because we “may affirm” the district court’s holding that Openiano failed to state a
fraud claim “upon any basis fairly supported by the record,” we conclude that the
district court did not err in so holding. Burgert v. Lokelani Bernice Pauahi Bishop
Tr., 200 F.3d 661, 663 (9th Cir. 2000).
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Nor did the district court err by declining to “accept as true” Openiano’s
“threadbare recitals of the elements” of breach-of-contract and bad-faith. Iqbal,
556 U.S. at 678.
III
The district court properly dismissed Openiano’s claims under California’s
Unfair Claims Settlement Practice Act, and for breach of fiduciary duty, as legally
insufficient. The Unfair Claims Settlement Practice Act creates no private cause of
action. Zephyr Park, Ltd. v. Super. Ct., 263 Cal. Rptr. 106, 109–10 (1989).
California recognizes no fiduciary duty between an insurer and an insured. Love v.
Fire Ins. Exch., 271 Cal. Rptr. 246, 252–54 (1990).
IV
The district court did not abuse its discretion in granting Hartford’s request
for judicial notice. Judicial notice may be taken when ruling on a motion for
judgment on the pleadings, Heliotrope Gen., Inc. v. Ford Motor Co., 189 F.3d 971,
981 n. 18 (9th Cir. 1999), and all documents here were properly subject to notice.
Daniels-Hall v. Nat’l Educ. Ass’n, 629 F.3d 992, 999 (9th Cir. 2010); Lee v. City of
Los Angeles, 250 F.3d 668, 689 (9th Cir. 2001).
V
Last, the district court did not err by deciding Hartford’s motion without oral
argument. Where a district court denies oral argument pursuant to local rule, see
4
S.D. Cal. Civ. R. 7.1(d)(1), it neither violates due process nor abuses its discretion,
Morrow v. Topping, 437 F.2d 1155, 1156–57 (9th Cir. 1971).
AFFIRMED.
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Openiano v. Hartford Life & Annuity Ins. Co., 19-56206
FILED
NOV 20 2020
N.R. SMITH, Circuit Judge, concurring in part and dissenting in part:
MOLLY C. DWYER, CLERK
U.S. COURT OF APPEALS
Construing Renato Openiano=s claims in his favor as we must at this stage of
the proceedings, see Kotrous v. Goss-Jowett Co., 523 F.3d 924, 929 (9th Cir.
2008); see also Erickson v. Pardus, 551 U.S. 89, 94 (2007) (per curiam) (“[A] pro
se complaint, however inartfully pleaded, must be held to less stringent standards
than formal pleadings drafted by lawyers.”), Openiano has stated a cognizable
claim for fraudulent misrepresentation based on the February 13, 2015
representations of Hartford’s employee, see Doe v. Gangland Prods., Inc., 730
F.3d 946, 960 (9th Cir. 2013) (noting that, under California law, “[t]he elements of
fraud are (1) misrepresentation; (2) knowledge of falsity; (3) intent to defraud; (4)
justifiable reliance; and (5) resulting damage”). Thus, I would reverse and remand
for further consideration the district court’s ruling on Openiano’s fraudulent
misrepresentation claim.
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