Johnson v. Empire Fire and Marine Insurance Company, 2:23-cv-00502

Plaintiffs Lashell Johnson and Linda Hicks were injured in a car accident caused by Hernan Leon, who was driving a Budget rental car.
The rental car was rented by Eduardo Estrella; Leon was not the listed renter nor an additional authorized driver on the rental agreement.
The Budget rental car was insured by Empire Fire and Marine Insurance Company.
Plaintiffs obtained a default judgment against Leon in state court after suing for negligence, then secured a judicial assignment of Leon’s rights against Empire.
Plaintiffs claim Empire failed to defend, indemnify, inform, or settle the lawsuit involving Leon under their insurance policy.
Empire filed a motion to dismiss, asserting Leon was never covered as an insured under its policy.

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument	Defendant's Argument	Held
Was Leon an insured under Empire policy?	Leon was a permissive user and thus insured.	Leon was not listed as a renter or additional driver.	Leon was not covered as an insured under the policy.
Existence of contractual relationship	Contract existed via insurance policy assignment.	No privity; Leon lacked coverage under the policy.	No contract existed; assignment invalid.
Breach of good faith and fair dealing	Empire owed Leon duties under the policy.	No such obligations absent an insured relationship.	No actionable duty; claim dismissed.
Nevada Unfair Claims Practices Act claim	Entitled to damages for improper claim practices.	Act applies only to claimants who are insured.	Claim dismissed; Leon not an insured.

Bell Atl. Corp. v. Twombly, 550 U.S. 544 (Rule 12(b)(6) requires plausible factual allegations)
Ashcroft v. Iqbal, 556 U.S. 662 (Facial plausibility required to survive motion to dismiss)
Century Sur. Co. v. Casino W., Inc., 677 F.3d 903 (Court cannot vary unambiguous contract terms)