Credit: Alex/Adobe Stock
A federal lawsuit filed this week against Travelers is seeking $2 billion in damages, alleging the insurer failed to settle a wrongful death case in a timely manner.
The case involves Prairie Farms Dairy, which was insured by Travelers. In 2016, Eric Johnson, who owned a third-party courier company, was transporting strawberries for a Prairie Farms subsidiary when he died. The strawberries were packed in dry ice, which caused carbon dioxide to build up in Johnson's vehicle and asphyxiate him.
Nearly 10 years later, the Johnson family's wrongful death suit went to trial and the jury awarded $241 million in damages to Johnson's widow and children. The trial found that Prairie Farms failed to communicate safety protocols for transporting dry ice.
The new suit, filed March 31 by Johnson's family, alleges Travelers violated its duty to its client, Prairie Farms. It says that Travelers had multiple opportunities over the last 10 years to resolve the wrongful death claim within available insurance limits but refused to do so, even though Prairie Farms asked for the case to be settled before trial.
Because Travelers wouldn't tender its policy limits, other excess insurance carriers were sidelined, and Prairie Farms was hit with the $241 million judgment, the suit says.
"This is a case that never would have gone to trial but for the reckless behavior of an insurance company that abandoned its duty of good faith to Prairie Farms and delayed recovery for Paula Johnson and her family by refusing to settle for a reasonable amount before trial," said Patrick A. Salvi II, whose firm — Salvi, Schostok & Pritchard — filed the suit, in a statement. "The gamble that Travelers took with the finances of a company that employs thousands of people in multiple states resulted in a verdict of nearly a quarter billion dollars."
The suit was filed in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Illinois and will now move through the court process.
Photo credit: Alex/Adobe Stock
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