Snyder: Why It is Nearly All the time Higher to Settle| Employees Compensation Information

By Last updated Mar 10, 2021

By Teddy Snyder

Wednesday, March 10, 2021 | 97 | 0 | min read

LaQuan Tremell Taylor’s injuries were terrible. The 27-year-old veteran was robbed, stolen and shot dead in the parking lot of a Kroger grocery store in Atlanta.

Teddy Snyder

After three weeks in a coma, about a year in hospital, multiple surgeries, and millions of dollars in treatment, the plaintiff’s spinal cord injury left him partially paraplegic with scars all over his body and persistent pain.

Kroger was the primary defendant in his lawsuit for negligent failure of the business to maintain adequate security.

Krogers insurance is stacked as follows:

Self-insured deductible of $ 3 million.
$ 2 million, ACE American Insurance Co.
$ 25 million, Starr Surplus Lines Insurance Co.
$ 25 million, Great American Insurance Co., New York.
Surplus over Great American – XL Insurance America and Chubb Group of Insurance Cos.

The plaintiff’s pre-trial claims were within Starr’s coverage limit, but Starr refused to reach a settlement. The final verdict exceeded $ 61 million. It appears that it was only after the judgment was passed that Starr attempted to reach an agreement.

Despite his ill-advised decision, Starr refused to pay more than his political limit to satisfy the verdict. Great American settled the case and sued Starr for reimbursement on February 11, 2021.

The declaratory action alleges that Starr acted with bad faith and was “adamantly contentious”. Great American has filed for reimbursement of its billing fee plus attorney fees and expenses.

I see many cases that, like the Taylor case, clearly have the potential to “blow up”. Cases will be settled when the parties are willing to spend the necessary time in good faith and make reasonable proposals for settlement. When parties are “persistently fighting,” the results can be disastrous.

Attorney Teddy Snyder mediates compensation cases for workers across California. She can be contacted via snydermediations.com.