with Erica Schroeder
Industry Insight with John Yoswick
—John Yoswick is a freelance writer based in Portland, Oregon who has been writing about the automotive industry since 1988. He is the editor of the weekly CRASH Network (for a free 4-week trial subscription, visit www.CrashNetwork.com). Contact him by email at jyoswick@SpiritOne.com.
Latest in Lawsuits Involving Shops, Insurers and an Auto Recycler
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There was activity recently in three its third version of the lawsuit, after legal battles involving body shops, the first two were dismissed. insurance companies, an auto recy- Presnell granted GEICO’s mowith Ed Attanasio tion, noting Eaves’ firm failed to file cler and consumers. A U.S. District Court judge in an opposition to GEICO’s fee request. Florida this summer agreed that a law- But Presnell reduced the amount owed suit in which two Mississippi shops are suing Progressive Insurance for tortious interference should be returned to a federal courtEd in the shops’ with Attanasio state. The two shops were part of a larger federal antitrust lawsuit, originally brought against multiple insurers in 2014, consolidated to the Florida court with about two dozen similar suits involving shops in othwith Ed Attanasio er states. Mississippi attorney John Eaves Jr. began The Mississippi shops’ suit signing body shops on to antitrust lawsuits against insurers back in 2013 was largely dismissed earlier this year, but because AutoWorks Collision Specialists in Jackson, MI, and to $30,298—GEICO had sought just Center in Pica- over $40,000—and said only the atWalker Collision with Ed Attanasio yune, MI, each pointed to a specific torneys, who he said pursued the matcustomer they said they lost because ter “unreasonably and vexatiously,” of steering tactics they say Progres- must pay those fees, not the shops. sive used, dismissal of their portion Another insurer, Nationwide, of the lawsuit was overturned on ap- also got a court victory in August. peal. The Pennsylvania Supreme Court Progressivewith arguedStacey the Florida announced it was deadlocked in its Phillips court should continue to oversee the review of a lower court’s decision lawsuit, but Judge Gregory Presnell that overturned a $21 million bad said it should return to the Mississip- faith verdict against Nationwide repi federal court where it was origi- lated to repairs made by one of the nally filed. In remanding the case to insurer’s “Blue Ribbon” direct reMississippi, however, pair shops. with Presnell StaceyindiPhillips cated that court might choose not to Because the six justices—a sevallow it to proceed because the fed- enth justice didn’t participate in the eral antitrust claims in the original case—were “divided in a fashion lawsuit have been dismissed. That which prevents a majority disposileaves Progressive facing only accu- tion,” the lower court’s decision to sations of violating Mississippi state throw out the 2014 verdict against Nawith Stacey Phillips anti-steering laws. tionwide stands. “Since no federal claims remain, The lawsuit arose after Daniel that court may decide that it is pru- and Sharon Berg took their coldent to decline to exercise jurisdic- lision-damaged 1996 Jeep Grand tion over the state law claims,” Pres- Cherokee to a Nationwide Blue Ribnell said. bon shop. An appraiser there rec He also ruled this summer on ommended the vehicle be declared with Stacey Phillips GEICO’s request that the other a total loss, but the Bergs alleged Mississippi shops—and their at- that Nationwide, without informtorneys—involved in the portion of ing them, had the vehicle moved to the lawsuit that was dismissed cover another Blue Ribbon shop where it GEICO’s legal fees fighting the case was repaired. The Bergs sued over since 2015. That’s when Mississippi the condition of the repaired vehicle, attorney John Eaves Jr.’s firm filed claiming Nationwide knowingly re-
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turned an unsafe vehicle to them as part of an effort to avoid totaling the vehicle. The couple won an $18 million verdict, plus $3 million in attorney fees, but a three-judge Superior Court panel in 2018 overturned that decision. The Bergs appealed to the state’s Supreme Court. Two of those justices issued an opinion in August saying they were in favor of reversing the lower court’s dismissal and reinstating the verdict, while two others said they believe the dismissal should be upheld; the views of the remaining two Pennsylvania Supreme Court justices is not known, but it would seem they were likely split in their views, giving neither side a majority. The justices arguing to reverse the Superior Court’s decision said such verdicts should be overturned only “in the most egregious of cases
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when the trial court has committed reversible error.” The justice’s arguing to uphold the reversal of the verdict said there was some question about the trial judge’s impartiality, pointing to that judge’s “protracted we-the-consumer discourse spanning six pages of the opinion,” in which he appeared to step beyond his “judicial role and align himself personally with the interests of insurance consumers.” In yet another legal matter that could provide a lesson for all employers, an auto recycler is being sued by the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), which says the company violated federal law by denying an employee’s requests for reasonable accommodations—and then fired her—while she was undergoing chemotherapy for cancer. See Latest in Lawsuits, Page 38
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