Allstate Still Trying To Shut Victims Up
February 16, 2006
It may not be the greatest show on Earth, but the legal battle of
Thomas J. Ivers v. Allstate Insurance Company certainly has the makings
of a three-ring circus. The story comes complete with accusations of arson
and jury tampering, and with a court order prohibiting one local man from
saying nasty things about his insurance company. It all started with some
frolicking goats.
According to an insurance claim
filed by Thomas Ivers in 1997, these
bad goats broke into Ivers’ basement
billiards room in Shingle Springs.
In the midst of their mischief, he
claimed, his goats must have knocked
over his kerosene heater, causing
the room to burst into flames. The
fire department hurried down the
rural dirt road leading to Ivers’
house, but by the time it squelched
the flames, the fire had completely
consumed his 5,500-square-foot home.
Ivers made a $900,000 claim to
Allstate Insurance, his insurance
company, expecting to rebuild what
he called his dream home--that is,
until Allstate rejected his claim,
citing arson, instead of goats, as
the cause of the fire. According to
a company investigator and a fire
marshal, someone had poured kerosene
in other parts of the home, causing
the fire to spread.
Outraged, Ivers embarked on what
became an eight-year battle against
Allstate Insurance. Simultaneously,
Ivers launched an anti-Allstate
crusade, complete with hats, pens,
stickers and other campaign props
bearing the word “Allstate,” circled
and with a slash through the name,
and “Eradicate its evil presence”
embossed underneath.
These antics aside, Ivers’ fight
came to a partial close on August 26
last year when a South Lake Tahoe
jury awarded Ivers $676,000. (South
Lake Tahoe was the closest town with
available courtrooms at the time.)
The jury deadlocked, however, on the
question of whether Allstate had
acted in “bad faith,” which could
have entitled Ivers to steep damages
against the company.
Kenneth Friedman, one of Ivers’
current attorneys, says he believes
the jury decided in their favor
because of a lack of arson evidence
or a clear motive. Friedman points
at the 10 years Ivers spent
remodeling and landscaping his home
as evidence of his client’s
innocence. Ivers would not comment
for this story, on his attorney’s
advice.
On February 27, he and Allstate
will begin to duke it out again over
the bad-faith portion of the
lawsuit, which hung the South Lake
Tahoe jury in August. Allstate has a
lot to lose in the next couple of
months. A jury now must decide
whether Allstate acted fairly and
quickly to resolve Ivers’ claim. If
a jury finds Allstate acted in bad
faith, meaning Allstate did not have
enough reason to believe Ivers set
his own home on fire, the decision
could mean millions of dollars in
punitive damages out of Allstate’s
pocket, a far cry from the $900,000
Ivers asked for originally.
Those who have been following the
matter closely since its 1998
inception wonder whether the second
trial will take on the lively tone
characteristic of the first trial.
After all, Allstate’s lawyers
have done the best they can to sap
some of its color. Last month,
Allstate’s attorneys tried to move
the trial out of El Dorado County
and into Sacramento, an attempt to
escape the media and public who have
been less than favorable to them.
Since the end of the trial in
August, Allstate attorneys contend,
Ivers has been sending packets of
“anti-Allstate propaganda” to former
jurors, along with a note asking
them to “pass it on to a friend or
neighbor when you are through.”
In its request for a change of
venue, the company characterized
Ivers’ actions as a “blatant attempt
to tamper with the Tahoe jury pool
and turn prospective jurors against
defendant Allstate.”
Unfortunately for Allstate, a
judge denied its motion for a change
of venue, and the matter will be
tried in Cameron Park instead.
And then there’s the restraining
order--or the stipulated restraining order (meaning both
sides agreed to the terms), as
Allstate spokesman Rich Halberg
likes to point out. Those terms
include barring Ivers from
“distributing any written materials
to anyone ... containing remarks of
any kind about Allstate, including
pens, hats, clothing, stickers, or
other materials,” among other
things. The order also prohibits
Ivers from “initiating any contact
with any journalist or newspaper
regarding his claims, opinions
and/or experience with Allstate.” A
packet from Ivers arrived at SN&R
offices shortly before the
restraining order was signed.
If Ivers pulls off another win
against Allstate, he won’t be
rebuilding his house in Shingle
Springs. “He had to sell it earlier
last year after eight years of
keeping the dream alive,” Friedman
said.
http://www.newsreview.com/sacramento/Content?oid=oid:47065
UPDATE
FRW Obtains
Bad Faith Verdict - Ivers v. Allstate Insurance Co.
March 15, 2006, Cameron Park,
CA.
A jury found in favor of Thomas
Ivers in his 9-year struggle with Allstate Insurance Company
over the loss of his home. Mr. Ivers lost his dream home on
10 acres in El Dorado County in January 1997 due to a fire
of undetermined origin. Allstate, his homeowner insurer,
claimed that the fire was Arson and that Ivers was
responsible. Allstate also claimed that Mr. Ivers
fraudulently inflated the value of his personal property
lost in the fire, and failed to cooperate with Allstate’s
investigation of the claim.
Last summer a South Lake Tahoe jury rejected all of
Allstate’s defenses and found that the claim was indeed
covered under the policy. The jury specifically rejected
Allstate’s defenses of arson, non-cooperation,
and fraud. That jury awarded Ivers $676,532 for the cost of
rebuilding his home and replacing the contents.
This
recent trial addressed the question
of whether Allstate’s actions
amounted to more than a simple
mistake—or “honest dispute” in the
words of their attorney. The jury
found that the denial for the
reasons claimed was improper and
breached the implied covenant of
good faith and fair dealing.
Although no damages were awarded by
the jury in this trial, the court
will now be allowed to award
attorney fees to Mr. Ivers for his
nine year struggle for justice.
Ken
Friedman, of Friedman, Rubin &
White, along with Glenn Guenard,
Guenard & Bozarth, LLP, represented
Mr. Ivers. “Allstate never thought
this day would come,” said Ken
Friedman, “they believed the mud
they threw at their customer would
stick. But at the end, we proved it
wasn’t arson, it was a covered
claim, and it wasn’t an honest
mistake.”
http://www.friedmanrubinwhite.com/news.htm
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