WATKINS v. CAPITAL CITY BANK et al

Filing 95

ORDER GRANTING 77 Motion for Summary Judgment. Ordered by US DISTRICT JUDGE MARC THOMAS TREADWELL on 2/22/2016. (tlh)

IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
FOR THE MIDDLE DISTRICT OF GEORGIA
MACON DIVISION
GENEVA L. WATKINS,
Plaintiff,
v.
CAPITAL CITY BANK and L.P. KEEN
INSURANCE AGENCY, INC.,
Defendants.

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CIVIL ACTION NO. 5:14-CV-107 (MTT)

ORDER
Defendant L.P. Keen Insurance Agency, Inc. (“Keen”) has moved for summary
judgment (Doc. 77) for the exact same reasons that Capital City Bank (“the Bank”) did in
its motion (Doc. 68). Plaintiff Geneva Watkins has responded with the exact same
arguments. (Doc. 82). Consequently, the same result is appropriate here. (See Doc.
86).
First, the Plaintiff’s claim is barred by the statute of limitations because the
Plaintiff admitted that she was “aware of the allegedly fraudulent ‘force-placed’
insurance premiums by 1998 or at the very … latest July 20, 2000” and that she has “no
evidence to demonstrate that [she was] only made aware of these allegedly fraudulent
‘force-placed’ insurance premiums after July 20, 2000.” (Docs. 55, ¶¶ 49, 50; 65).1
Thus, the four-year statute of limitations ran, at the latest, on July 20, 2004. The
Plaintiff did not file her suit in Gwinnett County until 2006. (Doc. 55-1 at 2). This is well
outside the statute of limitations. (Doc. 86 at 8-10).
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The Plaintiff has not objected to Keen’s reliance on her deemed admissions to the Bank’s Requests for
Admissions. (Docs. 55, 65).

Second, the Plaintiff’s claim is also barred by res judicata because there is privity
between the Plaintiff and her husband, Robert Watkins, and Robert has already litigated
the Watkins family’s force-placed insurance claims. (Id. at 10-16). Robert’s recent filing
confirms the Court’s ruling that the Plaintiff’s claim is barred by res judicata. (Doc. 91).
Therefore, Keen’s motion for summary judgment is GRANTED. (Doc. 77).

SO ORDERED, this 22nd day of February, 2016.
S/ Marc T. Treadwell
MARC T. TREADWELL
UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT