EASTERN DISTRICT DISMISSES ANOTHER BAD FAITH CLAIM FOR INADEQUATE PLEADING (Philadelphia Federal)

Continuing a line of recent Eastern District decisions, the court dismissed the UIM plaintiff’s bad faith claim as inadequately pleaded, with leave to amend.

The complaint failed to provide sufficient factual allegations to support a bad faith claim. Rather, it includes “conclusory remarks in which the Court cannot deduce bad faith.” Thus, “[i]n construing the complaint in a light most favorable to [the insured], the Court cannot determine specific factual allegations from these paragraphs.” The complaint was dismissed with leave to amend. However, any amended bad faith claim “must describe, with specifics, how [the insurer] acted in bad faith.”

The court relied upon the Third Circuit’s 2012 Smith decision in reaching its conclusion, as well as Judge Buckwalter’s 2015 Pasqualino decision, and Judge Baylson’s 2015 Allen decision.

Date of Decision: April 7, 2020

Champ v. USAA Casualty Insurance Co., U. S. District Court Eastern District of Pennsylvania No. 5:20-cv-01238, 2020 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 60790 (E.D. Pa. April 7, 2020) (Leeson, J.)