Auto-Owners Insurance Co. v. Bank One
Supreme Court of Indiana
879 N.E.2d 1086 (2008)
- Written by Mary Pfotenhauer, JD
Facts
Kenneth Wulf worked for Auto-Owners Insurance Company (Auto-Owners) (plaintiff). Wulf was responsible for maintaining files and collecting checks that Auto-Owners received for subrogation and salvage claims. Wulf opened a checking account at Bank One (defendant) in the name of “Auto-Owners, Kenneth B. Wulf.” Bank One did not request any documentation to confirm Wulf’s authorization to open or use the account on Auto-Owners’ behalf. Over the course of nearly eight years, Wulf deposited $546,000 meant for Auto-Owners into this account without Auto-Owners’ knowledge. Upon discovering Wulf’s fraud, Auto-Owners sued Bank One, arguing that Bank One had failed to exercise ordinary care in opening Wulf’s account and that this failure had substantially contributed to Auto-Owners’ losses. Auto-Owners presented evidence that the prevailing industry standard for opening a business checking account required proof of identity or authority. The trial court granted summary judgment in favor of Bank One, and the court of appeals affirmed. Auto-Owners appealed.
Rule of Law
Issue
Holding and Reasoning (Sullivan, J.)
Dissent (Boehm, J.)
What to do next…
Here's why 805,000 law students have relied on our case briefs:
- Written by law professors and practitioners, not other law students. 46,300 briefs, keyed to 988 casebooks. Top-notch customer support.
- The right amount of information, includes the facts, issues, rule of law, holding and reasoning, and any concurrences and dissents.
- Access in your classes, works on your mobile and tablet. Massive library of related video lessons and high quality multiple-choice questions.
- Easy to use, uniform format for every case brief. Written in plain English, not in legalese. Our briefs summarize and simplify; they don’t just repeat the court’s language.
