DECEMBER 2018 BAD FAITH CASES: COURT REFUSES TO JOIN UNDERLYING STATE COURT NEGLIGENCE WITH FEDERAL ACTION FOR BREACH OF POLICY AND BAD FAITH (Western District)
The insured-plaintiff attempted to join her underlying state court negligence action with her UIM bad faith and breach of contract federal action against her insurer. Both the tort defendant in the state case and the plaintiff were insured by the same carrier.
The court rejected this effort, observing that the two actions were distinct. There was no basis to join the underlying state action with the federal bad faith action simply because of the fortuity that that the same insurer was also defending another insured from a tort claim.
Date of Decision: November 30, 2018
Pastin v. Allstate Ins. Co., U.S. District Court Western District of Pennsylvania Civil No. 17-1503, 2018 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 203076 (W.D. Pa. Nov. 30, 2018) (Horan, J.)
