FRANK J. GAIDON, &C., ET AL., APPELLANTS, v. THE GUARDIAN LIFE INSURANCE
COMPANY OF AMERICA, RESPONDENT.
94 N.Y.2d 330 (1999).
December 20, 1999
1 No. 173
(99 NY Int. 0179)
Decided December 20, 1999
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PAUL A. GOSHEN, &C., APPELLANT, v. THE MUTUAL LIFE INSURANCE COMPANY OF NEW
YORK ET AL., RESPONDENTS.
99 N.Y. Int. 0179.
December 20, 1999
1 No. 174
(99 NY Int. 0179)
Decided December 20, 1999
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This opinion is uncorrected and subject to revision before publication
in the New York Reports.
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Case No. 173
Melvyn I. Weiss, for appellants.
Thomas J. Dougherty, for respondent.
Attorney General of the State of New York; Business
Council of New York State, Inc.; American Council of Life
Insurance, amici curiae.
Case No. 174
Melvyn I. Weiss, for appellant.
Harvey Kurzweil, for respondents.
Attorney General of the State of New York; Business
Council of New York State, Inc.; American Council of Life
Insurance, amici curiae.
ROSENBLATT, J.:
In both appeals before us, plaintiffs are policyholders who have
brought actions against insurance companies in connection with
"vanishing premium" life insurance policies. They allege, in essence,
SNIPPETS:
COMPANY OF AMERICA, RESPONDENT.
THE MUTUAL LIFE INSURANCE COMPANY OF NEW
This opinion is uncorrected and subject to revision before publication in the New York
Case No. 173 Melvyn I. Weiss, for appellants.
Attorney General of the State of New York; Business
Council of New York State, Inc.; American Council of Life Insurance, amici curiae.
plaintiffs are policyholders who have brought actions against insurance companies in
They allege, in essence, that they purchased their insurancepolicies based on defendants'
One is based on plaintiffs' claims that defendants violated General Business Law § 349 by
plaintiff representatives of a purported class each purchased a life insurance policy from
The Appellate Division affirmed but made no distinction among plaintiffs, holding that, among
Plaintiffs' assertions against defendants Mutual Life Insurance Company of New York and MONY
In contrast to common law fraud, General Business Law § 349 is a creature of statute based on
As this Court noted in Oswego, General Business Law § 349 was enacted initially to give the
As a threshold matter, plaintiffs' claims under General Business Law § 349 must be predicated
Moreover, the disclaimers, though more particularized than the merger provisions, do not
The determination of the deceptiveness of the conduct that bears on the reasonableness of the
Named plaintiffs are Frank Gaidon, Frank DeHamer, Nicholas DeHamer and Kathleen Warner, along
10 We note also that 25 states have adopted measures similar to these regulations expressly
910, § 6; Miss Dep't of Ins Regs 98-2; 210 Neb Admin Code § 72-006; Nev Admin Code 686A.4785; NJ
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