Date: 09-30-2000

Case Style: Willaim E. Greggs v. Celtic Life Insurance Company

Case Number: CJ-97-45

Judge: Jack K. Mayberry

Court: District Court, Rogers County, Oklahoma

Plaintiff's Attorney: David Humphreys and Luke Wallace of Humphreys, Wallace & Humphreys, Tulsa, Oklahoma

Defendant's Attorney: David Keglovits, Renee DeMoss and Elsie Draper of Gable & Gotwals, tulsa, Oklahoma

Description: Breach of contract and breach of the duty of good faith and fair dealing claims by retiree who purchased a health insurance policy to provide coverage during the one month period between his retirement and his eligibility for Medicare. While on a trip to Yellowstone, he was severely injured and was life flighted to a hospital in Idaho and then taken by air ambulance to Tulsa where he was hospitalized for 6 month and underwent several surgeries leaving his a paraplegic.

When he got home, he found piles of bills and demand letters from doctors and health care facilities demanding payment for the services provided to him and covered by the policy that he had purchased from Celtic. Eventually all of the bills were paid except for $3,000, but in a very slow fashion.

Plaintiff alleged that Celtic breach the contract that he purchased from it and that it acted in bad faith in the manner in which it handled the payment of the claims made against his health insurance policy.

Outcome: Plaintiff's verdict in the amount of $3,000 on the breach of contract claim and $3 million in compensatory damages on the bad faith claim.

Plaintiff's Experts: None

Defendant's Experts: Unknown

Comments: Plaintiff's demand was $2 million and the defendant's offer of settlement was $10,000.00.

It was reported by Plaintiffs' counsel only listed the plaintiff and all of defendant's witnesses as witnesses on the pre-trial order and relied primarily upon the testimony of those two witnesses to make his case.

Judge Mayberry refused to instruct on punitive damages. Reported by Kris Martin.