Castronovo-Flihan v. State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Company

CourtDistrict Court, D. Nevada
DecidedNovember 20, 2023
Docket2:20-cv-01197
StatusUnknown

This text of Castronovo-Flihan v. State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Company (Castronovo-Flihan v. State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Company) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, D. Nevada primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Castronovo-Flihan v. State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Company, (D. Nev. 2023).

Opinion

1 ROBERT W. FREEMAN Nevada Bar No. 3062 2 Robert.Freeman@lewisbrisbois.com FRANK A. TODDRE, II 3 Nevada Bar No. 11474 Frank.Toddre@lewisbrisbois.com 4 LEWIS BRISBOIS BISGAARD & SMTH LLP 6385 S. Rainbow Boulevard, Suite 600 5 Las Vegas, Nevada 89118 702.893.3383 6 FAX: 702.893.3789 Attorneys for Defendant 7 State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Company 8 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 9 DISTRICT OF NEVADA, SOUTHERN DIVISION 10 *** 11 GINA CASTRONOVO-FLIHAN, CASE NO. 2:20-cv-1197-JCM-DJA 12 Plaintiff, 13 JOINT PRE-TRIAL ORDER vs. 14 STATE FARM MUTUAL AUTOMOBILE 15 INSURANCE COMPANY, a foreign company; AND DOES I through V, inclusive 16 Defendants. 17 18 Following pretrial proceedings in this case, pursuant to Local Rule 16-3 and 16-4, IT IS SO 19 ORDERED: 20 I. STATEMENT OF ACTION 21 This is an action for Breach of Contract under Nevada’s common law. While the complaint 22 originally held causes of action for Breach of the Covenant of Good Faith and Fair Dealing, and for 23 violations of NRS § 686A.310, those causes of action were dismissed by a Partial Motion for 24 Summary Judgement granted by this Court.1 25 The issues for trial are the allegations of State Farm’s unreasonable and improper conduct 26 27 1 1 in breaching the insurance policy with Plaintiff and Plaintiff’s damages, if any. 2 A. Plaintiff’s Contentions 3 1. Plaintiff performed all conditions of the insurance policy. 4 2. Plaintiff was owed benefits under the insurance policy. 5 3. Defendant failed to provide the insurance benefits due and owing under the 6 insurance policy. 7 4. Defendant breached the insurance policy by manufacturing reasons to deny 8 the insurance benefits due and owing to Plaintiff under the insurance policy. 9 5. Defendant breached the insurance policy by making the claims process an 10 adversarial or competitive process. 11 6. Defendant breached the insurance policy by relying upon insufficient, 12 speculative and/or biased information. 13 7. Defendant breached the insurance policy by failing to acknowledge and act 14 reasonable upon communication with respect to Plaintiff’s claim under the insurance policy. 15 8. Defendant breached the insurance policy by failing to adopt and implement 16 reasonable standards for the prompt investigation and processing of claims. 17 9. Defendant breached the insurance policy by failing to promptly equate and 18 communicate the evaluations to Plaintiff. 19 10. Defendant breached the insurance policy by failing to offer to Plaintiff what 20 was owed. 21 11. Defendant breached the insurance policy by refusing to communicate with 22 Plaintiff and perform an investigation as to her general damages for the evaluation. 23 12. Defendant breached the insurance policy by reducing Plaintiff’s claim by 24 improperly basing her claim upon Medicare values for medical treatment through a claims software 25 system. 26 13. Defendant breached the insurance policy by denying Plaintiff’s claim for the 27 full policy limits. 1 Plaintiff. 2 15. Defendant breached the insurance policy by delaying in its investigation and 3 evaluation of the claim. 4 16. Defendant breached the insurance policy by denying the claim before 5 completing an evaluation. 6 17. Defendant breached the insurance policy by training its adjusters to deny 7 benefits by making unreasonably low offers that are below the evaluations. 8 18. Defendant breached the insurance policy by refusing to communicate its 9 evaluation to Plaintiff. 10 19. Defendant breached the insurance policy by failing to provide an explanation 11 of its offer and evaluation to Plaintiff. 12 20. Defendant breached the insurance policy by misrepresenting and improperly 13 asserting that the in-person meeting between its adjuster and Plaintiff has to take place in a public 14 library. 15 21. Defendant breached the insurance policy by failing to consider the new 16 information of Plaintiff’s general damages after the in-person interview and increase the value of 17 Plaintiff’s claim. 18 22. Defendant breached its promise for the bargain that when the insured, 19 Plaintiff, was in need, Defendant, as the insurance company, will be there to help like a Good 20 Neighbor. 21 23. Defendant breached the insurance policy by failing to pay Plaintiff a portion 22 of the policy benefits commonly known as the impasse payment or undisputed amount. 23 24. Defendant breached the insurance policy by failing to offer the full value of 24 the evaluations for the owed policy benefits. 25 25. Defendant breached the insurance policy by failing to give equal 26 considerations to Plaintiff. 27 26. Defendant breached the insurance policy by failing to comply with policies 1 27. Defendant breached the insurance policy by delaying in its retention of 2 experts. 3 28. Defendant breached the insurance policy by refusing to consider all of 4 Plaintiff’s medical expenses without any medical expert opinion and/or notations in the claim file 5 as to the basis for the denial. 6 29. Defendant breached the insurance policy by failing to consider any future 7 general damages. 8 30. Defendant breached the insurance policy by failing to handle the claim in 9 accordance with its own policies and procedures. 10 31. Defendant breached the insurance policy by failing to offer the full authority 11 for the benefits owed to Plaintiff. 12 32. Defendant breached the insurance policy by failing to give a prompt and 13 forthright explanation to Plaintiff as to the company’s position with respect to the claim. 14 33. Defendant breached the insurance policy by failing to conduct a diligent 15 search for facts as promptly as possible. 16 34. Defendant breached the insurance policy by creating false or fictitious issues 17 to avoid providing and/or paying benefits due and owing to Plaintiff. 18 35. Plaintiff has been forced to retain the services of an attorney in prosecution 19 of the Complaint, incurring expensive legal fees, court costs, and for fees for other professionals for 20 which Defendant is responsible 21 B. Defendants’ Contentions 22 Defendant contends that they did not breach the subject insurance policy contract, Policy 23 Number #136 2037-F22-28. 24 More specifically, Defendant contends the following: 25 1. Prior to the subject accident in 2019, Plaintiff experienced a separate motor 26 vehicle accident related injury when she was rear-ended in March 2017, and experienced neck pain 27 radiating to her arms, shoulder pain, headaches, and low back pain radiating to her legs. 1 under Farmer’s Insurance. 2 3. Plaintiff Castronovo-Flihan’s complaint fails to state a cause of action against 3 these answering defendants upon which relief can be granted. 4 4. Plaintiff Castronovo-Flihan did not fulfill her duty to cooperate with 5 Defendant State Farm under the terms of the subject policy. 6 5. Defendant State Farm did not breach the terms of the subject policy, but 7 instead simply requested a medical examination, as allowed under the terms of the subject policy, 8 §6(a)(2). 9 6. Plaintiff’s remaining damages, if any, were actually and proximately caused 10 by her prior 2017 Motor Vehicle Accident. 11 7. The valuation of the claim by State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance 12 Company was reasonable. 13 8. Defendant State Farm complied with the terms of the subject policy, case law, 14 and Nevada statutes. 15 9. If any damages are proven in this case, the basis of those damages lies only 16 with the breach of contract claim. 17 10. State Farm generally denies Plaintiff’s allegations set forth herein, and 18 incorporates by reference the denials set forth in Defendant’s Answer to Plaintiff’s Complaint on 19 file with the Court in this matter and raise the following affirmative defenses: 20 (a) Plaintiff has failed to state a claim upon which relief could be granted. 21 (b) Plaintiff failed to mitigate her damages.

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

Related

Pemberton v. Farmers Insurance Exchange
858 P.2d 380 (Nevada Supreme Court, 1993)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
Castronovo-Flihan v. State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Company, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/castronovo-flihan-v-state-farm-mutual-automobile-insurance-company-nvd-2023.