Miller v. Keating

Thomas Miller (plaintiff) was vice-president of Kustom Homes, Inc. (defendant), which held a $25,000 life-insurance policy on him; after Miller and company president Dutriel Keating (defendant) had a falling out and Miller resigned, Kustom (with roughly $125,000 in debt) took out an additional $75,000 in life insurance on him. Two Kustom employees, acting in coordination with Keating, stalked Miller to learn his whereabouts and beat him with a pipe in an attempt to kill him and collect on the life-insurance policies; Miller survived and sued Kustom, Keating, the two employees, and Kustom's insurer, Hartford. A jury held Kustom, Keating, and the two employees jointly liable for $25,500 but found Hartford not liable, and the appeals court affirmed Hartford's non-liability but reversed as to Kustom, holding Kustom was not vicariously liable for the others' acts.