McCallum v. Allstate Property & Cas. Ins. Co.

204 P.3d 944
CourtCourt of Appeals of Washington
DecidedMarch 31, 2009
Docket36624-0-II
StatusPublished
Cited by23 cases

This text of 204 P.3d 944 (McCallum v. Allstate Property & Cas. Ins. Co.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals of Washington primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
McCallum v. Allstate Property & Cas. Ins. Co., 204 P.3d 944 (Wash. Ct. App. 2009).

Opinion

204 P.3d 944 (2009)

Colleen McCALLUM, a single person, Respondent,
v.
ALLSTATE PROPERTY AND CASUALTY INSURANCE COMPANY, a foreign insurer, Appellant.

No. 36624-0-II.

Court of Appeals of Washington, Division 2.

March 31, 2009.

*946 Michael John Fisher, Rush Hannula Harkins & Kyler LLP, Tacoma, WA, Karen Kathryn Koehler, Stritmatter Kessler Whelan Coluccio, Seattle, WA, Ray W. Kahler, Stritmatter Kessler Whelan Coluccio, Hoquiam, WA, for Respondent.

Marilee C. Erickson, Reed McClure, Seattle, WA, Bennett E. Cooper, Steptoe & Johnson LLP, Phoenix, AZ, for Appellant.

BRIDGEWATER, J.

¶ 1 Allstate Insurance Company sought discretionary review of the trial court's denial of a protection order to limit the scope of discovery in a bad faith lawsuit. Allstate sought to limit discovery of its claim manuals, training manual, claim bulletins and the "McKinsey documents." We granted discretionary review and hold that Allstate did not show specific prejudice or harm for any of the documents; thus, it did not establish good cause to limit the scope of discovery. We affirm.

FACTS

¶ 2 Colleen McCallum was involved in motor vehicle accident on May 2, 2004, with another motorist and a phantom vehicle. The phantom vehicle caused the accident. At the time of the accident, McCallum had an Allstate automobile policy that provided uninsured motorist benefits. Her uninsured motorist policy included coverage in the amount of $25,000 per person and $50,000 per accident and personal injury protection insurance in the amount of $10,000.

¶ 3 McCallum incurred over $23,000 in medical expenses. Allstate evaluated her claim and extended a settlement offer of $9,000. But McCallum declined the offer because she did not think it was reasonable. Instead, in compliance with her Allstate policy, she filed a lawsuit in King County to pursue her uninsured motorist claim. She litigated her claim through mandatory arbitration, seeking to obtain $25,000 under her uninsured motorist policy limits. The arbitrator awarded McCallum the jurisdictional maximum of $50,000.

¶ 4 Following arbitration, McCallum filed this lawsuit against Allstate, alleging, among other things, bad faith violations of the Consumer Protection Act (CPA)[1] based on Allstate's handling of her uninsured motorist claim. During discovery, McCallum requested that Allstate provide documentation of its claim handling process. She insisted that those documents were relevant to her bad faith claims against Allstate, asserting that they documented Allstate's alleged national policy to drag out the claims process thereby making it as expensive, long, and drawn out as possible.

¶ 5 Allstate objected to two separate discovery requests to provide the documents. McCallum, therefore, sought an order to compel discovery. In response, Allstate filed a motion for a protective order of the documents. Specifically, Allstate moved for an order providing that its claim manuals, claim bulletins, Claim Core Process Redesign Implementation Training Manual (CCPR), and the McKinsey documents[2] are confidential, *947 commercial information and/or trade secrets that may only be produced subject to confidentiality protections. To support its motion, Allstate submitted declarations from its assistant vice president, Christine Sullivan, and a local claims representative, Robert Bjorback. Bjorback's declaration addressed the claim manuals, claim bulletins, and CCPR Implementation Training Manual.

¶ 6 The trial court granted Allstate's protective order for Allstate's claim manuals, claim bulletins, CCPR Implementation Training Manual, and McKinsey documents. The order limited use of the documents to this litigation and limited distribution of the documents to McCallum, her counsel, and her experts. Allstate provided the documents that McCallum requested.

¶ 7 Soon after, McCallum deposed Bjorback and Sullivan as to their declarations. McCallum pressed Sullivan about the McKinsey documents in her deposition. Additionally, Bjorback admitted that he had no knowledge as to how much time, manpower, or financial recourses Allstate spent to prepare its manuals and procedures. Bjorback also testified in his deposition that he had no knowledge of Allstate's competitors' business practices, leading McCallum to conclude that, contrary to his declaration statements, Bjorback had no idea whether Allstate's processes are unique or that its competitors would want them. In addition, Bjorback testified that Allstate was compelled to produce the 1995 version of the CCPR claims manual in another case, Tastad v. Allstate Ins. Co., noted at 86 Wash.App. 1118, 1997 WL 428065 (1997), despite his declaration stating that the materials were trade secrets and/or confidential. He was unsure of the differences between the 1995 version and the current version of the claims manual. He had not "compared them." CP at 899. As a result of the discrepancies between Bjorback and Sullivan's declarations and deposition testimony, McCallum moved the trial court to vacate the protective order. Allstate opposed the motion.

¶ 8 After briefing and a hearing, the trial court granted McCallum's motion. It found that, based on the discrepancies between their declarations and deposition testimony, Sullivan and Bjorback lacked the personal knowledge on which they based their conclusions in their declarations. Accordingly, the trial court ordered Allstate to comply with McCallum's original discovery requests and provide the documents at issue without seal or protection.

¶ 9 Allstate then moved to stay the order vacating the protective order until after reconsideration or discretionary review. The trial court denied that motion. Allstate moved for reconsideration of its motion to vacate the protective order, arguing that the trial court abused its discretion when it granted the order because McCallum misrepresented the facts. The trial court also denied that motion. It found that Allstate did not meet its burden to show why the documents warranted protection.

¶ 10 We granted Allstate's motion for discretionary review and stayed the trial court's order vacating the protective order. Allstate maintains that its appeal of the remaining documents at issue—the claim manuals, claim bulletins, CCPR Implementation Training Manual—is not moot. Those documents, according to Allstate, require a protective order.[3]

*948 ANALYSIS

¶ 11 The crux of this appeal is whether the trial court erred when it vacated Allstate's protective order and denied Allstate's motion for reconsideration. Generally, we review a trial court's discovery order for an abuse of discretion. T.S. v. Boy Scouts of Am., 157 Wash.2d 416, 423, 138 P.3d 1053 (2006); Dreiling v. Jain, 151 Wash.2d 900, 907, 93 P.3d 861 (2004). We employ the same standard when reviewing a trial court's denial of a motion for reconsideration. Rivers v. Wash. State Conference of Mason Contractors, 145 Wash.2d 674, 685, 41 P.3d 1175 (2002). But if a trial court relied on an improper legal rule to arrive at its decision, an appellate court will remand to the trial court to apply the correct rule. Dreiling, 151 Wash.2d at 907, 93 P.3d 861. We review questions of law de novo. Dreiling,

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

Related

Marcus D. Smith v. Northwest Motor Sport Inc.
Court of Appeals of Washington, 2025
Ryan M. Day v. Tacoma RV Center, Inc.
Court of Appeals of Washington, 2025
Lori Shavlik, V. Snohomish County
Court of Appeals of Washington, 2024
Stratford v. Umpqua Bank
534 P.3d 1195 (Washington Supreme Court, 2023)
Frank Williams, V. D.s.h.s., State Of Washington
Court of Appeals of Washington, 2023
Roy v. Government Employees Insurance Co.
524 P.3d 1249 (Hawaii Intermediate Court of Appeals, 2023)
Saody Eng, V. Specialized Loan Servicing, Llc
500 P.3d 171 (Court of Appeals of Washington, 2021)
Svetlana Muzychuk v. Vasyl Tyshkov
Court of Appeals of Washington, 2020
Cesar Hernandez v. Edmonds Memory Care, Llc
450 P.3d 622 (Court of Appeals of Washington, 2019)
Inteum Co. v. Nat'l Univ. of Sing.
371 F. Supp. 3d 864 (W.D. Washington, 2019)
Lyft, Inc. v. City of Seattle
418 P.3d 102 (Washington Supreme Court, 2018)
Belo Management Services, Inc. v. Click! Network
343 P.3d 370 (Court of Appeals of Washington, 2014)
Kassa Ins. Services v. Ryan Pugh, et ux
Court of Appeals of Washington, 2014
SER Montpelier US Insurance Co. v. Hon. Louis H. Bloom, Judge
757 S.E.2d 788 (West Virginia Supreme Court, 2014)
Robbins Geller Rudman & Dowd LLP v. Office of Attorney General
179 Wash. App. 711 (Court of Appeals of Washington, 2014)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
204 P.3d 944, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/mccallum-v-allstate-property-cas-ins-co-washctapp-2009.