Business depends upon legal agreements between parties being honored. Failure to do so by a party to a business contract can result in contract disputes in California. Wal-Mart Stores Inc. is now facing this type of situation and has recently filed a breach of contract lawsuit.
Wal-Mart has named several commercial excess liability insurance companies as defendants in a recently filed lawsuit. The complaint accuses the insurers of delaying payment of claims related to a personal injury settlement Wal-Mart paid for a turnpike accident involving a Wal-Mart truck. The incident occurred in 2014 and garnered some media attention due to a famous celebrity comedian and another fellow comedian being among the victims receiving settlement payments.
The retail giant filed the recent lawsuit at the end of September. Some of the defendants include, Liberty Insurance Underwriters Inc., QBE Insurance Corp., The Travelers Companies Inc, XL Insurance America, Inc. and various other insurance companies. The plaintiff is asking for compensatory and punitive damages. The lawsuit alleges negligent failure to settle the claim in accordance with policy limits, bad faith and purposely prolonging the claim investigation in order to delay payments.
On the other hand, just like all contract disputes in California, there are two sides to the story. The defendants will be allowed to defend themselves in the court of law. The side with the strongest legal argument backed up by evidence and testimony will be more likely to prevail in the lawsuit. Therefore, knowledge of applicable business and contract laws will be essential.
Source: insurancejournal.com, “Wal-Mart Sues Insurers for Alleged Breach of Contract in Morgan Settlement Case“, Oct. 16, 2015
