Harrington v. EquiTrust Life Ins.

Plaintiff filed a putative class action against EquiTrust, alleging that EquiTrust's marketing of the sale of annuities violated the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (RICO) Act, 18 U.S.C. 1962(c), and Arizona law. The district court granted EquiTrust's motion for summary judgment but declined to award costs. In this case, plaintiff's complaint is based entirely on the language of the annuity contract and the EquiTrust marketing materials. The district court found, and the court agreed, that there were no actionable predicate acts regarding the premium bonus, the market value adjustment, nor the nonforfeiture law. The court concluded, however, that the district court must explain a denial of an award of costs to the prevailing party. Because the district court failed to do so here, the court vacated the order denying costs and remanded for further proceedings. The court affirmed the grant of summary judgment. View "Harrington v. EquiTrust Life Ins." on Justia Law