Deborah Trudel v. SunTrust Bank
924 F.3d 1281
| D.C. Cir. | 2019Background
- Yevgenyi Scherban opened a SunTrust savings account in Boca Raton in the mid-1990s, deposited over $1M, and named his wife and son as beneficiaries. Funds disappeared between the decedents’ deaths in 1996 and the account’s closure in 2003.
- Plaintiffs (estate representative Deborah Trudel and son Ruslan Scherban) sued SunTrust in 2015 alleging the bank stole or permitted theft of the funds; SunTrust says a former assistant likely withdrew the money and that it lawfully discarded records in 2010 per retention policy.
- Plaintiffs’ second amended complaint asserted 12 claims; the district court dismissed ten as untimely or for failure to state a claim but allowed accounting and fraudulent-concealment claims to proceed to discovery (Trudel I).
- After discovery, the district court granted summary judgment to SunTrust, dismissing the accounting claim for lack of a fiduciary relationship or sufficiently complex transactions and dismissing the pleaded concealment claim for failure to show detrimental reliance (Trudel II).
- Plaintiffs later sought to pursue a new concealment theory (that SunTrust hid an unclaimed account in the early 2000s in violation of Florida escheat law) and to amend; the district court treated that as forfeited and denied additional discovery and leave to amend (Trudel II, Trudel III).
- The D.C. Circuit affirmed the district court on the grounds that plaintiffs failed to show special fiduciary circumstances for an accounting, forfeited the new concealment theory, and the district court did not abuse its discretion on discovery, reconsideration, or leave-to-amend rulings.
Issues
| Issue | Plaintiff's Argument | Defendant's Argument | Held |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1) Entitlement to an equitable accounting | Scherban’s account transactions were sufficiently complex and/or SunTrust had a fiduciary relationship due to language barriers | Bank-customer relationship is arm’s-length; no evidence SunTrust undertook to advise or protect Scherban | Accounting denied: no genuine dispute of fiduciary relationship; complexity argument forfeited on appeal |
| 2) Fraudulent concealment — pleaded theory (litigation-period concealment of contractor relationships) | SunTrust concealed relationships with contractors who might hold records, causing delay | Discovery showed no contractor records; plaintiffs cannot prove detrimental reliance | Summary judgment for SunTrust affirmed for lack of detrimental reliance |
| 3) Fraudulent concealment — new theory (early-2000s concealment/escheat of unclaimed account) | Bank concealed account by failing to report/handle it under Florida escheat laws | Theory was not pleaded and raised only at summary judgment after close of discovery; forfeited | Forfeited: district court did not abuse discretion in refusing to consider the new theory |
| 4) Discovery, reconsideration, and leave to amend | Plaintiffs sought more discovery, reconsideration, and leave to file a third amended complaint to pursue new concealment theory | District court: additional discovery would not cure core defects; no new evidence justifying reconsideration; amendment untimely and prejudicial | District court did not abuse discretion in denying extra discovery, Rule 59(e) reconsideration, or leave to amend |
Key Cases Cited
- Anderson v. Liberty Lobby, 477 U.S. 242 (summary-judgment standard)
- Zaki Kulaibee Establishment v. McFliker, 771 F.3d 1301 (11th Cir. 2014) (elements for equitable accounting under Florida law)
- Trudel v. SunTrust Bank, 223 F. Supp. 3d 71 (D.D.C. 2016) (district court decision permitting accounting and concealment claims to proceed)
- Trudel v. SunTrust Bank, 288 F. Supp. 3d 239 (D.D.C. 2018) (district court summary-judgment opinion granting judgment for SunTrust)
- Trudel v. SunTrust Bank, 325 F.R.D. 23 (D.D.C. 2018) (district court denial of discovery/reconsideration and leave to amend)
- Bldg. Educ. Corp. v. Ocean Bank, 982 So. 2d 37 (Fla. 3d DCA 2008) (banks do not presumptively owe customers fiduciary duties)
- Watkins v. NCNB Nat’l Bank of Fla., N.A., 622 So. 2d 1063 (Fla. 3d DCA 1993) (special-circumstances test for fiduciary relationship)
- Hess v. Philip Morris USA, Inc., 175 So. 3d 687 (Fla. 2015) (treating fraud statute of repose as an affirmative defense)
- Firestone v. Firestone, 76 F.3d 1205 (D.C. Cir. 1996) (standard for motions to reconsider under Rule 59(e))