Olympic Insurance v. Harrison

Citation: Olympic Insurance Co. v. Harrison, Inc., 418 F.2d 669 (5th Cir. 1969).

The plaintiff sued for the amount due on an insurance premium. In a motion for summary judgment, the plaintiff offered an IBM statement of an itemized bill as part of its affidavit. The trial court granted the motion. The defendant appealed, asserting that the IBM printouts were not reliable, and therefore, a material issue of fact existed as to the amount due and it was error to grant plaintiff's summary judgment motion.

The Fifth Circuit noted that the IBM printouts are the types of records that come within 28 U.S.C. §1732, and are, therefore, prima facie reliable. In addition, the court noted that the defendant did not object to any specific inaccuracy, but merely alleged general unreliability of the printouts.

The court held that there was no merit in the defendant's contention of unreliability. Without specific objections there was, as the trial court found, no material issue of fact, and summary judgment was properly granted.