A New York federal judge has hit Zurich American and its two law firms with a $1.25 million penalty for keeping evidence "buried in a box" for almost two years in an attempt to limit World Trade Center claims against the insurer.
The Schaumburg, Ill.-based carrier and the law firms Wiley Rein LLP and Coughlin Duffy LLP, "in their efforts to do away with evidence, to not produce evidence, and to slow up production of evidence...compounded the wrongdoing that they perpetrated," wrote U.S. District Court Judge Alvin K. Hellerstein.
His ruling imposing sanctions came in a dispute over whether World Trade Center Properties leaseholder Larry Silverstein had obtained liability coverage from Zurich American prior to 9/11 for the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, as well as for Westfield Corp., which leased retail space in the twin towers.
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