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Monnier v. American Family Insurance Group9/28/2004
(not designated for permanent publication)
Jeffrey J. Monnier appeals the decision of the district court for Douglas County granting the motion of American Family Insurance Group (American Family) for summary judgment and dismissing the action.
FACTUAL AND PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND
Monnier was issued an insurance policy by American Family that provided Monnier $100,000 in underinsured motorist coverage for bodily injury. On April 10, 1997, Monnier was involved in a motor vehicle accident. State Farm Insurance (State Farm), the insurer for the other motorist involved in the collision, settled with Monnier for $25,000, the limit of the other motorist's policy. Monnier had American Family's permission to settle with State Farm. Monnier asserts that he suffered damages in excess of the State Farm policy limit, and he made a claim against his American Family underinsured motorist coverage, which claim was denied by American Family via casualty claims examiner Linda Serghini-Peterson (Peterson) on August 15, 2000.
By the time that Peterson denied Monnier's claim, acting on behalf of American Family, she had reviewed letters from Monnier's counsel, memorandums prepared by American Family's medical services nurse, Monnier's medical bills, his medical records, and a report prepared by Dr. Charles Taylon, an independent medical examiner. The letters from Monnier's counsel demanded payment of the $100,000 policy limit for underinsured motorist benefits and set out Monnier's medical history. Monnier "was born with a dorsal kyphosis," and he sustained a back injury at work in 1990 that aggravated the kyphosis. Monnier sought treatment for this injury from an orthopedic surgeon, Dr. Patrick Bowman. In 1991, Monnier had rods inserted into his thoracic spine in order to treat the aggravation of the kyphosis. In 1993, Monnier was released from Dr. Bowman's care with a 17-percent disability and, later that same year, settled a workers' compensation case for a 17-percent disability of his person as a whole. In 1994, it was discovered that Monnier had only one kidney. In 1995, Monnier slipped in the mud and landed on his back while golfing, for which injury he sought treatment from Dr. Bowman for 2 months. After the April 1997 motor vehicle accident, Monnier complained of discomfort in his lower back and his neck. Monnier sought treatment from several health care providers, including a chiropractor, a physical therapist, Dr. Bowman, Monnier's primary treating physician, another orthopedic surgeon, a neurosurgeon, and a pain clinic. Monnier claims that his current problems are a result of the motor vehicle accident. However, Dr. Taylon stated in his report that he did not feel that Monnier's current problems were related to the 1997 accident. Peterson relied on all of the above information when she denied Monnier's claim.
On August 30, 2000, Monnier filed a petition in Douglas County District Court, alleging in part that American Family acted in bad faith in denying his claim. On September 20, American Family filed its answer denying that it acted in bad faith.
On March 12, 2003, American Family filed a motion for summary judgment as to the portion of Monnier's petition regarding the bad faith claim. A hearing on the motion was held on May 21. On June 16, the district court entered an order sustaining American Family's motion for summary judgment. Monnier now appeals.
ASSIGNMENT OF ERROR
Monnier alleges that the district court erred in sustaining American Family's motion for summary judgment because genuine issues of material fact exist as to whether there existed a reasonable basis for denying Monnier's insurance claim.
Page 1 2 3 Nebraska Personal Injury Attorneys
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