Litigation

San Diego Jury Awards Punitive Damages to Marine Captain Against Military Insurer

By Bruce Nye

The Los Angeles Times reports that last week a San Diego jury awarded $3.6 million to a Marine captain serving in Iraq against his homeowners' insurer, USAA.  The jury found that the company, which specializes in insuring military personnel, cheated him and defrauded him in connection with water damage to his Oceanside home.  The plaintiff testified early in the trial, then was deployed  to Iraq before the jury awarded  $84,000 to fix his  water damage, $50,000 for emotional distress and $3.5 million in punitive damages. The trial judge would not allow the jury to be told he was deploying to Iraq, and he testified in civilian clothes.

In these rarified times and in this State, it's not that unusual a verdict.  But here's the unusual part:  The San Antonio Express's blog, MySA.com (in Texas, not California) received some 90 posts on the verdict, ranging from scathingly anti-plaintiff (suggesting he should have stayed home from Iraq and paid attention to his water damage) to similarly anti-USAA.  USAA posted a carefully measured response at the same blog.  As is customary after disappointing verdicts, it defends the company's position, expresses its disappointment, and bravely assures readers that the Court of Appeal will straighten out this misunderstanding.  But USAA then writes:

First and foremost, USAA respects and honors Capt. Colombero's military service. We stand on our record of excellent service to the U.S. Military and their families for more than 85 years, as evidenced by our member satisfaction, claims satisfaction and customer retention rates ? the highest in the insurance industry. We disagree with any statements that criticize our military members or suggest that they should not answer their call to duty.

Full post as published by CalBizLit on April 16, 2008 (boomark / email).