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Nichols v. State Farm Fire and Casualty Company8/11/2000
[No. 5304 - August 11, 2000]
Appeal from the Superior Court of the State of Alaska, Third Judicial District, Anchorage, John Reese, Judge.
I. INTRODUCTION
Dallas Nichols sued his neighbor's insurance company for intentional and negligent spoliation based on the insurance company's failure to secure critical evidence in Nichols's case against the neighbor. The superior court granted summary judgment to the insurance company, and Nichols appealed. We affirm.
II. FACTS AND PROCEEDINGS
A. Facts
On September 1, 1996, Dallas Nichols was assisting his neighbor, Richard Gittlein, with roof repairs when the ladder Nichols was standing on collapsed beneath him. Nichols fell eight or nine feet, tearing a rotator cuff. It is uncontested that the ladder was "old," "beat-up" and "had a lot of cracks in it." Gittlein left the broken ladder under the deck of his house.
Two months later, on December 5, 1996, a fire heavily damaged Gittlein's house. Nichols claims that the ladder was not destroyed in the fire. Shortly after the fire, on December 18, 1996, Nichols filed a claim with Gittlein's insurance company, State Farm, for his injuries suffered in the ladder accident. The claim was assigned to State Farm agent Janet Sperbeck. She contacted Gittlein on December 20th, who reported that he was not sure if he still had the ladder and that it may have been destroyed in the fire.
On January 2, 1997, Sperbeck met with Nichols for the first time. He told her that the ladder was still in existence on the property and that it should be preserved. Sperbeck went to Gittlein's premises on January 2, hoping to find him and ask about the ladder. When she arrived, she discovered that the house had been destroyed and all that was left was a shed. Sperbeck left without finding Gittlein or the ladder.
After this visit, Sperbeck wrote to Gittlein, asking whether he had found the ladder. She called him twice, without reaching him. But she did not contact the State Farm agent who was handling Gittlein's fire claim and who was in communication with Gittlein.
On January 15 Sperbeck called Nichols and spoke with Nichols's wife, Judy. Judy expressed concern that, if Sperbeck failed to collect the ladder, it would soon be too late. Sperbeck traveled to the premises on that date but did not find Gittlein there.
On January 27 Gittlein made contact with Sperbeck. He told her that he could not find the ladder and that it must have been thrown out with the fire debris.
Subsequently, in July 1997, State Farm wrote Nichols stating that its liability analysis was complete and that Gittlein was not negligent. State Farm therefore declined to make any payments under the liability coverage of its policy.
B. Proceedings
On August 6, 1997, Nichols filed suit against Gittlein and State Farm. Nichols alleged that Gittlein was liable for negligently providing a ladder for use by Nichols that Gittlein knew or should have known was defective and unsafe for use. Nichols also alleged that Gittlein and State Farm "acted negligently, intentionally or recklessly in failing to preserve the ladder." These claims for intentional and negligent spoliation were the only claims alleged against State Farm.
After some discovery was conducted, State Farm moved for summary judgment. Initially, its motion was based on an assertion that the ladder was destroyed in the December 5 fire, which occurred before State Farm had any notice of a possible claim by Nichols. Nichols pointed out that his sworn answer to an interrogatory attested to the existence of the ladder after the
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