“Quasi-estoppel” trumps alleged assignment

The defendant in American General Life v. Bryan owned a company (“IMG Inc.”) through which he routed commission checks that he received for selling life insurance.  No. 12-20435 (Aug. 14, 2013, unpublished).  An insurer rescinded a policy and then sought repayment of the commission.  The agent defended on the ground that the insurer’s agency relationship was actually with another company, “IMG Cap.”  The Fifth Circuit found that issues about the scope of the parties’ contracts were not appropriate for summary judgment, but the case was properly resolved by the doctrine of quasi-estoppel because the agent routinely used IMG Inc. for the handling of commissions and had not used IMG Cap.  Accordingly, it would be “unconscionable to allow [the agent] to hide behind the assignment . . . when his behavior over a multiple-year period was flagrantly inconsistent with the legal arguments he now urges us to adopt on appeal.”