Cadle v. GEICO General Ins. Co.

Plaintiff filed a bad-faith diversity case against GEICO for failure to settle her claim when it could and should have done so. GEICO moved for partial summary judgment and sought a determination that the jury's $900,000 verdict in the underlying state uninsured motorist (UM) case was not binding as a measure of the damages in the federal bad-faith case. The district court denied GEICO's motion, but subsequently granted GEICO’s renewed motion for judgment as a matter of law. At issue on appeal is whether judgment as a matter of law correctly was entered for GEICO, when plaintiff failed to establish permanent injury under Fla. Stat. 627.727(7) for noneconomic damages within the cure period. Under the clear language of Florida law regarding noneconomic damages in an insurance bad-faith case, the court concluded that the district judge was correct to conclude that the jury had no evidence from which it reasonably could have found GEICO had acted in bad faith. In this case, there was no evidence of permanency during the cure period, which is required under Florida law. Accordingly, the court affirmed the district court's judgment. View "Cadle v. GEICO General Ins. Co." on Justia Law