Judson Atkinson Candies, Inco v. Kenray Associates, Incorporate , 719 F.3d 635 ( 2013 )


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  •                              In the
    United States Court of Appeals
    For the Seventh Circuit
    Nos. 12-1035 & 12-1036
    JUDSON A TKINSON C ANDIES, INCORPORATED ,
    Plaintiff-Appellant,
    v.
    K ENRAY A SSOCIATES, INCORPORATED ,
    C HARLES A. M C G EE AND K ENNETH J. M C G EE,
    Defendants-Appellees.
    Appeals from the United States District Court
    for the Southern District of Indiana, New Albany Division.
    Nos. 02 CV 00242, 03 CV 00012—
    William G. Hussmann, Jr., Magistrate Judge.
    A RGUED JANUARY 17, 2013—D ECIDED JUNE 11, 2013
    Before M ANION and T INDER, Circuit Judges, and L EE,
    District Judge. Œ
    L EE, District Judge. In settling two lawsuits, Judson
    Atkinson Candies, Inc., and Kenray Associates, Inc.,
    Œ
    Honorable John Z. Lee, of the Northern District of Illinois,
    is sitting by designation.
    2                                   Nos. 12-1035 & 12-1036
    entered into an agreement, which required Kenray to
    pursue its insurer for coverage of Atkinson’s claims.
    But when Kenray’s attempts failed, Atkinson sought
    to invalidate the agreement, alleging that it had been
    fraudulently induced to enter into it. Because the agree-
    ment contained an integration clause, the district court,
    applying Indiana law, established a bright-line rule,
    requiring Atkinson to demonstrate that it had been in-
    duced by fraud to enter into the integration clause
    itself, as opposed to the agreement as a whole, in order
    to circumvent the parol evidence rule. Because Indiana
    law does not impose such a bright-line rule, we reverse.
    I. Background
    Judson Atkinson Candies, Inc., and Atkinson Candy
    Company (collectively “Atkinson”) filed two separate
    lawsuits in the United States District Court for the
    Eastern District of Texas against Kenray Associates, Inc.,
    Charles A. McGee, and Kenneth J. McGee (collectively
    “Kenray”), alleging that Kenray had failed to satisfy
    certain technology agreements and representations
    made therein. The cases were subsequently transferred
    to the United States District Court for the Southern
    District of Indiana and consolidated for the purposes of
    trial. For its part, Kenray also initiated a separate action
    against its insurance carrier, Hoosier Insurance Com-
    pany, in the Superior Court for Floyd County, Indiana,
    seeking insurance coverage for Atkinson’s claims.
    In December 2004, during the pendency of the trial in
    their consolidated cases, Atkinson and Kenray settled
    Nos. 12-1035 & 12-1036                                      3
    the lawsuits against one another. As part of the settle-
    ment, Kenray agreed to the entry of judgments against
    it and in favor of Atkinson. At the same time, the
    parties entered into a “Covenant Not To Execute,”
    whereby Atkinson agreed not to execute on the judg-
    ments if Kenray pursued the coverage action against
    Hoosier and otherwise complied with the terms of the
    Covenant, even if the Indiana courts eventually found
    in Hoosier’s favor. Kenray also agreed to assign to
    Atkinson any claims it may have had against its
    insurance agent. Notably for present purposes, the
    Covenant contained the following language: “The
    parties agree this agreement represents the parties’ sole
    agreement.”
    In Kenray’s lawsuit against Hoosier, the Floyd County
    Superior Court found that no insurance coverage
    existed for Atkinson’s claims and entered judgment in
    favor of Hoosier in January 2007. On October 3, 2007, the
    Indiana Court of Appeals upheld the decision, and the
    Indiana Supreme Court denied transfer on January 17,
    2008, effectively ending the coverage litigation. See
    Kenray Assocs., Inc. v. Hoosier Ins. Co., 
    874 N.E.2d 406
     (Ind.
    Ct. App. 2007); Kenray Assocs., Inc. v. Hoosier Ins. Co., 
    891 N.E.2d 36
     (Ind. 2008). Meanwhile, in June 2007, Atkinson
    filed a lawsuit against Kenray’s insurance agent as-
    serting Kenray’s errors and omissions claims. In March
    2010, the insurance agent prevailed on summary judgment.
    On January 14, 2011, foreclosed from recovering any
    funds from Hoosier and Kenray’s insurance agent,
    Atkinson went back to the district court that presided
    4                                 Nos. 12-1035 & 12-1036
    over the original lawsuits between itself and Kenray
    and filed a motion to set aside the Covenant. Atkinson
    argued that it was fraudulently induced to enter into
    the Covenant and only did so based upon representa-
    tions from Kenray that its insurance agent had con-
    firmed that Kenray had insurance coverage for Atkinson’s
    claims. Atkinson further argued that Kenray’s repre-
    sentations were made with the knowledge that, in fact,
    the insurance agent had advised Kenray that Hoosier
    would likely deny the claim, and that Kenray inten-
    tionally withheld this information from Atkinson.
    In response, Kenray argued that because the Covenant
    contained an integration clause that precluded Atkin-
    son’s reliance upon any oral representations made by
    Kenray prior to its execution, Atkinson’s fraudulent
    inducement claim failed.
    On June 29, 2011, the Magistrate Judge, to whose juris-
    diction the parties consented, indicated that he would
    likely deny Atkinson’s motion to set aside the Covenant
    and took it under advisement. In its order, the court
    held that because the Covenant contained an unambigu-
    ous integration clause, parol evidence could not be con-
    sidered to vary the terms of the agreement. However,
    the court also held that if Atkinson could demonstrate
    that there was fraud in the inducement specific to the
    integration clause, rather than as to the agreement as a
    whole, then Atkinson might still be able to circumvent
    the parol evidence rule and prevail on its claim. Because
    the parties had not addressed this particular issue in
    their briefs, the court scheduled an evidentiary hearing
    Nos. 12-1035 & 12-1036                                   5
    as to this limited point, concluding, “absent a showing
    by Atkinson that there was fraud in the inducement of
    the clause itself, the integration clause will prohibit
    the court from doing anything other than enforcing
    the [C]ovenant as written.”
    Confronted with the court’s order, Atkinson moved to
    cancel the evidentiary hearing. Although it remained
    steadfast that it had been fraudulently induced to enter
    into the Covenant as a whole, Atkinson conceded that
    it could not establish fraudulent inducement as to
    the integration clause itself. On December 13, 2011,
    the court denied Atkinson’s motion to set aside the
    Covenant “because Plaintiff is unable to show that there
    was fraud in the inducement of the [integration] clause
    itself” and confirmed its June 29, 2011, order as the
    final order. Atkinson timely appealed.
    II. Discussion
    On appeal, Atkinson argues that the district court
    misapplied Indiana law when it required Atkinson to
    provide evidence of fraudulent inducement in connec-
    tion with the execution of the integration clause itself,
    rather than as to the Covenant as a whole, in order to
    overcome the parol evidence rule. Not surprisingly,
    Kenray responds that the district court properly
    applied the law in denying Atkinson’s motion.
    As a preliminary matter, the parties agree that this
    Court’s review of the district court’s denial of Atkinson’s
    motion is conducted de novo, because the district court
    6                                   Nos. 12-1035 & 12-1036
    treated the motion as one for summary judgment. Ziliak
    v. Astra Zeneca, L.P., 
    324 F.3d 518
    , 520 (7th Cir. 2003).
    The parties further agree that Indiana state law governs
    this dispute, and the Court concurs. See Deckard v. General
    Motors Corp., 
    307 F.3d 556
    , 560 (7th Cir. 2002) (where “case
    arises from the diversity jurisdiction of a federal court
    sitting in Indiana,” principles of Indiana law apply).
    Accordingly, it is to Indiana law that we turn.
    A. Integration Clauses and the Parol Evidence Rule
    We start with the general principle of Indiana law that
    “where the parties to an agreement have reduced the
    agreement to a written document and have included an
    integration clause that the written document embodies
    the complete agreement between the parties . . . the
    parol evidence rule prohibits courts from considering
    parol or extrinsic evidence for the purpose of varying
    or adding to the terms of the written contract.” Krieg
    v. Hieber, 
    802 N.E.2d 938
    , 943 (Ind. Ct. App. 2004). When
    examining the impact of an integration clause, the court
    is to consider the integration clause “as any other
    contract provision to determine the intention of the
    parties and to determine if that which they intended to
    contract to is fully expressed in the four corners of the
    writing.” Franklin v. White, 
    493 N.E.2d 161
    , 166 (Ind. 1986).
    Because an integration clause “is only some evidence
    of the parties’ intentions,” the court “should consider an
    integration clause along with all other relevant evidence
    on the question of integration.” 
    Id.
     As such, the mere
    Nos. 12-1035 & 12-1036                                      7
    inclusion of an integration clause “does not control the
    question of whether a writing is or was intended to be a
    completely integrated agreement.” America’s Directories
    Inc. v. Stellhorn One Hour Photo, Inc., 
    833 N.E.2d 1059
    , 1067
    (Ind. Ct. App. 2005). In the end, “the weight to be
    accorded an integration clause will vary, depending on
    the facts and circumstances of each particular case.”
    Franklin, 493 N.E.2d at 166. And the court is “to hear
    all relevant evidence, parol or written” in making this
    determination. Id. at 167.
    B. The Fraudulent Inducement Exception to the
    Parol Evidence Rule
    Another long-established principle of Indiana law
    provides that the parol evidence rule will not apply “in
    the case of fraud in the inducement, where a party
    was ‘induced’ through fraudulent representations to
    enter a contract.” Circle Centre Dev. Co. v. Y/G Ind., L.P.,
    
    762 N.E.2d 176
    , 179 (Ind. Ct. App. 2002) (citing Ruff v.
    Charter Behavioral Health Sys. of Nw. Ind., 
    699 N.E.2d 1171
    , 1174 (Ind. Ct. App. 1994)); see Lightning Litho, Inc. v.
    Danka Indus., Inc., 
    776 N.E.2d 1238
    , 1241 (Ind. Ct. App.
    2002) (“Fraudulent inducement occurs when a party
    is induced through fraudulent misrepresentations to
    enter into a contract.”).1 The “general principle” is that
    1
    To prove fraudulent inducement, Atkinson must demonstrate
    that Kenray made a false material representation of fact; that
    it was made with knowledge or reckless disregard of its
    (continued...)
    8                                    Nos. 12-1035 & 12-1036
    “fraud vitiates all contracts.” Prall v. Ind. Nat’l Bank,
    
    627 N.E.2d 1374
    , 1378 (Ind. Ct. App. 1994).
    The question before us then lies at the intersection of
    these two legal principles. To wit, where a party to a
    contract alleges fraudulent inducement and the contract
    in question has a valid integration clause, must the
    party demonstrate that it was fraudulently induced to
    agree to the integration clause itself before it can rely
    upon prior representations to vitiate the contract, or is
    it sufficient for a party to show that it was fraud-
    ulently induced to enter into the contract as a whole?
    Relying upon Circle Centre, 
    762 N.E.2d 176
    , the district
    court found that, before Atkinson could invoke any
    parol evidence, it had to show that it had been fraudu-
    lently induced to agree to the integration clause it-
    self. Because we believe that this is too narrow a
    reading of Indiana law, we reverse.
    C. Prall, Circle Centre, and Their Progeny
    In beginning our analysis, we note that the Indiana
    Supreme Court has not yet spoken on this particular
    issue. “Where the state supreme court has not ruled
    on an issue, decisions of the state Court of Appeals
    1
    (...continued)
    falsity with an intent to deceive; and that Atkinson
    reasonably relied upon the misrepresentation, which was the
    proximate cause of its injury. Bilimoria Computer Sys., LLC v.
    Am. Online, Inc., 
    829 N.E.2d 150
    , 155 (Ind. Ct. App. 2005).
    Nos. 12-1035 & 12-1036                                    9
    control, unless there are persuasive indications that the
    state supreme court would decide the issue differently.”
    Lexington Ins. Co. v. Rugg & Knopp, Inc., 
    165 F.3d 1087
    ,
    1090 (7th Cir. 1999) (citing Allen v. Transamerica Ins. Co.,
    
    128 F.3d 462
    , 466 (7th Cir. 1997)). Therefore, we are left
    to parse the recent Indiana Court of Appeals decisions
    that touch upon this issue. Before considering the
    holding in Circle Centre, however, we begin with the
    case upon which that court relied: Prall v. Indiana
    National Bank.
    Fred Prall had sued The Indiana National Bank
    (“INB”) for breach of contract, and INB had counter-
    claimed for default of a loan agreement. The parties
    eventually settled the lawsuit and entered into a mutual
    release agreement, in which Prall agreed to release all
    claims, known or unknown, against INB in connection
    with the project from which the dispute arose. Prall, 
    627 N.E.2d at 1376
    . The release agreement expressly stated
    that “this document contains the entire agreement
    between the parties hereto and no representation or
    promises, other than those contained or referred herein,
    have been made by any party to any other party to
    secure the execution of” the release. 
    Id. at 1377
    . In an
    effort to circumvent the release, Prall argued, inter alia,
    that INB had fraudulently induced him to enter into the
    release agreement by making certain misrepresenta-
    tions prior to the agreement’s execution. 
    Id. at 1378
    .
    The Indiana Court of Appeals recognized first the
    general principle that an integration clause “is to be
    considered as any other contract provision to deter-
    10                                    Nos. 12-1035 & 12-1036
    mine the intention of the parties” and the weight to be
    given to it “will vary, depending on the facts and cir-
    cumstances of each particular case.” 
    Id. at 1377
    . The
    court then went on to reject Prall’s argument, noting
    that Prall was a sophisticated party who was represented
    by counsel when the release agreement was signed. 
    Id. at 1378
    . The court also found it persuasive that Prall
    “expressly stated that he was not relying upon the repre-
    sentation of INB in entering into the release.” Id.2 Addi-
    tionally, the court noted that, even if he “had not unequiv-
    ocally affirmed in the release he was not relying on
    any representations from INB, he has failed to estab-
    lish reliance.” 
    Id. at 1379
    . The court continued—in the
    passage that would later form the basis of the Circle
    Centre decision—“A releasor, in order to avoid a re-
    lease on the ground of fraud or misrepresentation, must
    2
    As this Court has recognized, such “no-reliance” or “dis-
    claimer of reliance” clauses “ ‘serve a legitimate purpose in
    closing a loophole in contract law’ by heading off a suit for
    fraud used as a device for trying to get around the limitations
    that the parol evidence rule and contract integration clauses
    place on efforts to vary a written contract on the basis of oral
    statements made in the negotiation phase.” Nightingale Home
    Healthcare, Inc. v. Anondyne Therapy, LLC, 
    589 F.3d 881
    , 885
    (7th Cir. 2009) (quoting Extra Equipamentos E Exportacao Ltda.
    v. Case Corp., 
    541 F.3d 719
    , 724 (7th Cir. 2008)). “ ‘[N]o
    reliance clauses are called ‘big boy’ clauses (as in ‘we’re big
    boys and can look after ourselves’),’ and hence in some states
    are not enforced without an inquiry into the circumstances
    of its negotiation, to make sure that the signatory knew what
    he was doing.” 
    Id.
    Nos. 12-1035 & 12-1036                                    11
    show he had a right to rely on the misrepresentation,
    and he did in fact rely on it in executing the release. . . .
    In other words, the fraud must have induced or pro-
    duced the execution of the release or contributed to it as
    a cause.” 
    Id.
     (citing 76 C.J.S. § 27).
    It is clear from the context of this passage in Prall and
    the court’s citation to the Corpus Juris Secundum that
    the Indiana Court of Appeals was using the word “re-
    lease” to denote the release agreement between Prall
    and INB generally, rather than the specific integration
    provision contained in the agreement. With this in
    mind, we turn to Circle Centre.
    In Circle Centre, a landlord sued a tenant for unpaid
    rent, and the tenant brought a counterclaim for fraudu-
    lent inducement to enter into the lease. The landlord
    filed a motion for judgment on the pleadings as to the
    tenant’s counterclaim based upon the inclusion of an
    integration clause and a no-reliance provision in the
    lease. The tenant acknowledged in the provision that it
    had “independently investigated” the project and had
    “not relied upon any inducements or representations
    on the part of the Landord or Landlord’s representatives,
    other than those contained in the Lease.” 
    762 N.E.2d at 177
    . The trial court denied the landlord’s motion, and
    the Court of Appeals reversed, holding that the no-
    reliance language in the lease precluded the tenant
    from using the alleged prior misrepresentations to
    form the basis of its fraud claim. 
    Id. at 178-79
    .
    In reaching its holding, the appellate court observed
    that Indiana courts had addressed whether an express
    12                                  Nos. 12-1035 & 12-1036
    integration clause barred a fraudulent inducement claim
    “sparingly and with varying results.” 
    Id. at 179
    . The court
    noted that, in Jenkins v. Nebo Props., Inc., 
    439 N.E.2d 686
    , 694 (Ind. Ct. App. 1982), it had permitted parol
    evidence of fraud even in the face of an express integra-
    tion clause, while it had not done so in Prall. 
    Id.
     The
    Circle Centre court then analogized the case before it to
    Prall and precluded the use of parol evidence. “[J]ust
    as Prall represented, in effect, that he had investigated
    the information, [the tenant] expressly stated that it
    had performed its own independent investigation.” 
    Id.
    In the course of its decision, the Circle Centre court
    cited the passage in Prall discussed above and decreed
    that the tenant, in order to overcome the integration
    and disclaimer provision, “would have to show both
    that it had a right to rely on [the landlord’s] alleged
    misrepresentations and that it did in fact rely on them
    in executing that portion of the lease which disclaims such
    reliance.” 
    Id.
     at 180 (citing Prall, 
    627 N.E.2d at 1379
    ) (em-
    phasis added). “In other words,” the court continued,
    “the fraud must have induced or produced the execution
    of the lease disclaimer or contributed to it as a cause.”
    
    Id.
     (citing Prall, 
    627 N.E.2d at 1379
    ) (emphasis added).
    It is unclear whether the Circle Centre court intended
    these statements to be an application of the more
    general rule espoused in Prall to the particular facts
    before it, including the presence of an explicit no-reliance
    clause, or whether the court intended to announce a
    new categorical rule requiring a party asserting fraudu-
    lent inducement to establish fraud in the inducement of
    Nos. 12-1035 & 12-1036                                 13
    the integration clause itself regardless of the factual
    circumstances. What is clear is that Prall did not limit
    the fraudulent inducement inquiry only to that portion
    of the agreement that disclaimed reliance, but exa-
    mined the agreement as a whole. Decisions by the
    Indiana Court of Appeals subsequent to Circle Centre
    have adopted this broader reading of Prall.
    The Indiana appellate court addressed this issue again
    in America’s Directories Inc. v. Stellhorn One Hour Photo,
    Inc. In that case, the plaintiff claimed that it had been
    fraudulently induced into signing a three-year contract
    with the defendant. The form contract stated, in relevant
    part, that “NO VERBAL AGREEMENTS OR REPRESEN-
    TATIONS OUTSIDE OF THIS AGREEMENT HAVE
    BEEN MADE TO OR RELIED UPON BY PURCHASER.”
    Am.’s Directories, 
    833 N.E.2d at 1066
    . At trial, the de-
    fendant proposed a jury instruction that provided, “[A]s
    a matter of law, any oral representations made by [defen-
    dant] to [plaintiff] cannot be fraud in the inducement
    because the . . . provision disclaiming reliance on
    such representations supercedes any prior oral repre-
    sentations.” 
    Id. at 1067
    . The trial court refused to adopt
    the proposed jury instruction. 
    Id.
    The Court of Appeals, again echoing Franklin, noted
    that “the determination of whether the parties intended
    a writing to be totally integrated must be based on all
    the relevant evidence,” and “[t]he weight to be given an
    integration clause will vary depending on the facts and
    circumstances of each particular case.” 
    Id. at 1067
    . The
    court went on to affirm the trial court’s refusal to give
    14                                  Nos. 12-1035 & 12-1036
    the instruction, finding that the requested instruction
    “is thus an incorrect statement of law.” 
    Id.
     “Not only
    does the instruction ignore Indiana case law, which
    holds that the conclusiveness to be given an integration
    clause varies depending on the facts and circumstances
    of each case . . . it also disregards the exception to
    the parol evidence rule, which explicitly permits the
    introduction of prior statements to prove fraud in the in-
    ducement.” 
    Id.
     (citing Circle Centre, 
    762 N.E.2d at 179
    ).
    In reaching its decision, the Indiana Court of Appeals in
    America’s Directories cited Circle Centre for the general
    proposition that a plaintiff can rely upon parol evidence
    to establish fraudulent inducement as to the entire agree-
    ment, rather than limiting proof of fraudulent induce-
    ment to the integration clause itself.
    Tru-Cal, Inc. v. Conrad Kacsik Instrument Systems, Inc.,
    
    905 N.E.2d 40
     (Ind. Ct. App. 2009), also discussed Prall
    and Circle Centre, but under a slightly different set of
    facts. In Tru-Cal, the plaintiff claimed it had been fraudu-
    lently induced into entering into a settlement agree-
    ment based on a forged underlying document. In re-
    sponse, the defendant claimed that the plaintiff could
    not reasonably rely upon the forged document to
    support a fraud claim because the integration clause
    in the settlement agreement disclaimed reliance on any
    outside representations. 
    Id. at 45
    . The appellate court
    explained that, in Prall and Circle Centre, it had “acknowl-
    edged that a party could overcome the effect of an in-
    tegration clause if it could show it had a right to rely
    on the alleged misrepresentations and did in fact rely
    on them in executing the release and/or integration
    Nos. 12-1035 & 12-1036                                     15
    clause.” 
    Id.
     The court then applied a broad reading of
    Prall and Circle Centre to conclude, “Here, there can be
    no doubt that the fraud directly induced the execution
    of the settlement agreement or, at least, contributed to
    its cause.” 
    Id. at 46
     (emphasis added).
    The Tru-Cal court also was careful to recognize that
    the agreement did not contain a no-reliance or disclaimer
    provision, unlike in Prall and Circle Centre. 
    Id.
     Accordingly,
    the Tru-Cal court found that this was “the type of case
    described in Prall and Circle Ctr. Dev. Co. where a party
    can overcome the effect of an integration clause and
    bring a fraud in the inducement claim to rescind
    the contract.” 
    Id.
    Most recently, the Indiana Court of Appeals decided
    Wind Wire LLC v. Finney, 
    977 N.E.2d 401
     (Ind. Ct. App.
    2012). There, the purchasers of a wind turbine claimed
    that they were fraudulently induced into signing a sales
    contract by the seller. The sales contract contained an
    integration clause stating that “[i]t is understood that
    this Agreement and any documents which are attached
    hereto or referenced herein constitute the intire [sic]
    agreement between the parties and all other agreements,
    represenstion [sic], promises, inducements, statements,
    and understandings, prior to and contemporaneous
    with this Agreement, written or oral, are suspended by
    this Agreement.” Id. at 403-04. The seller, relying on
    Circle Centre, argued that “the fraudulent induce-
    ment exception to the parol evidence rule only ap-
    plies if the alleged misrepresentation specifically
    ‘induced or produced the execution of the . . . disclaimer,’
    16                                 Nos. 12-1035 & 12-1036
    as opposed to the signing of the contract generally.”
    Id. at 405.
    The appellate court disagreed. While noting that Wind
    Wire had “accurately quot[ed]” Circle Centre, the court
    explained that “the proposition upon which it relies
    has a broader application.” Id. The court emphasized
    the language in Prall, as pointed out by the court in Tru-
    Cal, which allowed parties to argue that they were fraud-
    ulently induced in “ ‘executing the release and/or inte-
    gration clause.’ ” Id. (quoting Tru-Cal, 
    905 N.E.2d at 45
    ). Moreover, the appellate court observed that
    Circle Centre “did not overrule the requirement that
    the weight given to a contract’s integration clause be
    decided on a case-by-case basis.” 
    Id.
    D. Returning to Franklin and First Principles
    As the Indiana Supreme Court has explained, the
    proper weight to be given to an integration clause is to
    be determined on a case-by-case basis. Franklin, 493
    N.E.2d at 166. As we have seen, among the many
    factors that a court may consider is the existence of no-
    reliance or disclaimer language, as well as the relative
    sophistication of the parties and the circumstances sur-
    rounding the agreement’s execution. The imposition of
    an inflexible rule that would require a party claiming
    fraudulent inducement to demonstrate that he or she
    was fraudulently induced to agree to the integration
    clause itself would unreasonably restrict the trial court’s
    ability to conduct the factual analysis that the Indiana
    Nos. 12-1035 & 12-1036                                  17
    Supreme Court requires. Accordingly, to the extent that
    the holding in Circle Centre was intended to establish
    such a rule, we are persuaded that the Indiana courts
    would return to the principles espoused in Prall and
    Franklin as it has in Tru-Cal and Wind Wire.
    Returning to the case at hand, the Covenant states
    that “[t]he parties agree this agreement represents the
    parties’ sole agreement.” Although the district court
    recognized that “[t]his language does not specifically
    state that this section of the agreement is intended to
    be an integration clause,” the court concluded that the
    provision constituted an express integration clause be-
    cause “it serves no other purpose except to act as an
    integration clause.” We have no reason to disagree with
    this conclusion. Like the district court, we cannot dis-
    cern any other purpose for this language than to serve
    as an integration clause.
    As for Atkinson’s efforts to overcome the integration
    clause and rely upon parol evidence to establish fraud-
    ulent inducement, the district court, citing Circle Centre,
    concluded that “[a]bsent a showing by Atkinson that
    there was fraud in the inducement of the clause itself,
    the integration clause will prohibit the court from
    doing anything other than enforcing the [C]ovenant as
    written.” In so doing, the district court relied upon an
    impermissibly narrow reading of the Circle Centre
    decision without conducting an independent assess-
    ment as to whether the parties actually intended the
    integration clause to impose such a restriction. As in
    Prall and Circle Centre, the district court on remand may
    18                                 Nos. 12-1035 & 12-1036
    certainly conclude, after reviewing the evidence, that
    the parties intended the integration clause to permit the
    parties to overcome the parol evidence rule only if they
    can demonstrate fraudulent inducement as to the in-
    tegration clause itself, rather than the agreement as
    a whole. The existence (or absence) of a no-reliance
    clause, among other factors, would be relevant
    to such an inquiry. But invoking a categorical rule,
    as the district court did here, without conducting such a
    case-by-case analysis, is inconsistent with the Indiana
    Supreme Court’s pronouncements in Franklin and the
    decisions of the Indiana Court of Appeals in Prall and
    its progeny.
    III. Conclusion
    Because, in the absence of a factual inquiry, the mere
    presence of an integration clause does not preclude
    Atkinson from introducing parol evidence that it was
    fraudulently induced to enter into the Covenant agree-
    ment as a whole, the district court’s opinion and order
    is R EVERSED and R EMANDED for further proceedings
    consistent with this opinion.
    6-11-13