Civil Litigation,
Insurance,
California Courts of Appeal
Jul. 31, 2019
Bad faith conduct, managing agent decisions justify punitive damages
Recently, the California Court of Appeal held that there was ample evidence to support a finding that an insurer’s regional liability administrator was its “managing agent” for purposes of assessing an award of punitive damages.
Shaun H. Crosner
Partner
Pasich LLP
Phone: (424) 313-7844
Email: scrosner@pasichllp.com
Shaun represents insureds in complex insurance matters.
When insurers act in bad faith, California law permits insureds to recover punitive damages if the insurer's conduct is egregious enough to constitute oppression, fraud, or malice. See Cal. Civ. Code Section 3294(a). Punitive damages are awarded "for the sake of example and by way of punishing" an insurer that acts in bad faith, id., and awards of punitive damages can often well exceed the amounts that the insure...
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