Rohde v. Massachusetts Mutual Life Insurance Co.
United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit
632 F.2d 667 (1980)
Rohde applied for life insurance with the insurance company (defendant), paid the initial premium, and took the required physical exam the same day; the company issued a conditional receipt promising coverage as of that day if it later found him an acceptable insurance risk. Rohde died later that same day. The insurance company determined he was uninsurable and denied liability, but the district court found this determination was made in bad faith, though it also found a good-faith evaluation would have reached the same uninsurable conclusion anyway, and ruled for the company. Rohde's widow (plaintiff) appealed.
Whether the nonoccurrence of a condition is excused when the party attempting to benefit from that nonoccurrence caused the condition's failure.