Posts
First, another RICO suit against State Farm has popped up:
Gregory Sundahl, individually and Jesse Sundahl, individually and On behalf of All Others Similarly Situated
v.
State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Compay, an Illinois corporation; Preferred Consulting Services Inc., a New York Corporation; Hooper Evaluations, Inc. a/k/a D&D-Hooper Evaluations, a New York Corporation;
John and Jane Does;
ABC Corporations;
and Other Unknown Entities
(Eastern District Docket: 08-1242)
This case is different from the other RICO suits I mentioned not too long ago in that it is a class action brought by injured parties and not medical providers.
Eric Turkewitz has also posted about this suit in his blog, New York Personal Injury Blog. His post goes into the suit in greater detail and refers to earlier posts where named defendants (inexplicably) commented.
The subject has been smoking hot around here, as one of the defendant doctors responded on this blog with a guest post (see: A Doctor, Sued In Insurance Company RICO Suit, Responds To The Charge). In the comments, other defendants have also stepped forward, and thus far 39 comments have been recorded as the subject sizzles on, away from this blog's main page.
I don't know attorney Rosenberg, but he clearly seems to be taking on an entire industry with these three suits (and one wonders if more are to come from other patients). And if he has the goods, evidence-wise, we may see some remarkable legal action in the year or two ahead.
The suit was filed in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of New York. A copy of the suit is here: RICO-Sundahl-v.StateFarm.pdf
I'll post more details tomorrow.
Next, as you may recall, a while back The Florida Insurance Commissioner has suspended Allstate Insurance Company from writing any new policies in Florida. A few days ago a Florida Appeals Court upheld the suspension:
Reuters ( I edited it down. To view the entire article click here)
Florida investigators were trying to determine if Allstate and other companies colluded to prevent property insurance rates from dropping despite legislative action last year to reduce premiums.
In a statement issued immediately after the ruling by the First District Court of Appeal in Tallahassee on Friday, Insurance Commissioner Kevin McCarty said the suspension would be enforced immediately.
But at an afternoon news conference he pulled back, saying Allstate had 15 days to appeal and he was not sure when the suspension would take effect.
Allstate said it was reviewing the ruling but believed it was not yet final and would continue to write new business.
The appeals court said in its ruling: "The question we must answer is whether OIR can take this action in an effort to enforce its subpoenas. They can."
"OIR was not required to pursue enforcement of its subpoenas in circuit court. Suspension of Allstate's Certificate of Authority is one of OIR's available enforcement options."
McCarty said the company continues to thumb its nose at the state's request for information and recently sent a 196-page list of documents it would not release.
"The company's actions have been contrary to the best interests of the consumer and they have acted in a way that jeopardizes the health and welfare of the people of Florida," he said.
Late Friday, Allstate announced the public release on its Web site of about 150,000 pages of documents relating to a review of its claim practices in the 1990s.
The review was assisted by the management consultant McKinsey & Co and the paperwork has long been thought to advocate a tough approach to handling customer claims.
Allstate said it believed the documents should be kept confidential, but it was releasing them to "address misunderstandings" about how it handles claims.
David Rossmiller, Esq, has a link to the Appellate Decision on his Insurance Coverage Law Blog. He hasn't commented on the decision as of today, but it will be worthwhile for everyone interested in the situation to follow up and see what his opinion is.
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