You are here: / / PLAINTIFF’S CLAIM FOR PUNITIVE DAMAGES IN THIS BREACH OF AN INSURANCE...
, ,

PLAINTIFF’S CLAIM FOR PUNITIVE DAMAGES IN THIS BREACH OF AN INSURANCE CONTRACT ACTION SHOULD HAVE BEEN DISMISSED, CRITERIA EXPLAINED (SECOND DEPT). ​

The Second Department, reversing Supreme Court, determined the punitive damages claim against defendant insurer should have been dismissed. Plaintiff was struck by a vehicle when she was in a cross-walk. She settled with the driver’s insurer, with her insurer’s consent, for $25,000. She the brought this breach of contract action against defendant insurer for $225,000, plus punitive damages for a bad-faith breach of the insurance contract:

The elements required to state a claim for punitive damages when the claim arises from a breach of contract are: (1) the defendant’s conduct must be actionable as an independent tort; (2) the tortious conduct must be of the egregious nature set forth in Walker v Sheldon [10 NY2d 401]; (3) the egregious conduct must be directed to the plaintiff; and (4) it must be part of a pattern directed at the public generally. Where a lawsuit has its genesis in the contractual relationship between the parties, the threshold task for a court considering a defendant’s motion to dismiss a demand for punitive damages is to identify a tort independent of the contract … .

… [T]he plaintiff failed to allege an independent tort. There is no separate tort for bad faith refusal to comply with an insurance contract … . While an insurer may be held liable for damages to its insured for the bad faith refusal of a settlement offer … , the plaintiff here failed to state such a cause of action. …

The plaintiff has not alleged any facts from which an inference can be drawn that the defendant’s conduct constituted a gross disregard of the plaintiff’s interests. …

The plaintiff failed to allege any facts from which an inference can be drawn that the defendant’s conduct was of an egregious nature as set forth in Walker v Sheldon, such that it was morally reprehensible and of such wanton dishonesty as to imply a criminal indifference to civil obligations … . Schlusselberg v New York Cent. Mut. Fire Ins. Co., 2022 NY Slip Op 03539, Second Dept 6-1-22

Practice Point: The criteria for punitive damages for breach of contract are difficult to meet. The defendant’s conduct must amount to an independent tort, be morally reprehensible, wantonly dishonest, and criminally indifferent to civil obligations. Here, those criteria were not met by the allegations of breach of an insurance contract.

 

You might also like
THE ATTORNEY’S “CERTIFICATE OF TRANSLATION” DID NOT INCLUDE SUFFICIENT DETAIL ABOUT THE ATTORNEY’S KNOWLEDGE OF THE SPANISH LANGUAGE; THEREFORE THE TRANSLATION OF PLAINTIFF’S AFFIDAVIT WAS NOT ADMISSIBLE AND SUMMARY JUDGMENT WAS NOT SUPPORTED (SECOND DEPT).
QUESTION OF FACT WHETHER DEFENDANT’S EMPLOYEE SAW WHAT HE SHOULD HAVE SEEN BEFORE THE EMPLOYEE’S GARBAGE CART COLLIDED WITH PLAINTIFF’S SCOOTER AS PLAINTIFF BACKED OUT OF AN ELEVATOR (SECOND DEPT).
Judge’s Failure to Properly Handle Note from Jury Was Reversible Error
MOTION TO EXTEND TIME FOR SERVICE SHOULD HAVE BEEN GRANTED (SECOND DEPT).
THE CIRCUMSTANTIAL EVIDENCE PRESENTED BY PLAINTIFF DID NOT IDENTIFY THE CAUSE OF PLAINTIFF’S DECEDENT’S SLIP AND FALL; DEFENDANT’S MOTION FOR SUMMARY JUDGMENT SHOULD HAVE BEEN GRANTED (SECOND DEPT).
PLAINTIFF’S ACTION FOR PRIVATE NUISANCE ALLEGING DEFENDANTS’ AIR CONDITIONING UNIT IS TOO LOUD SHOULD NOT HAVE BEEN DISMISSED (SECOND DEPT).
VILLAGE FAILED TO ESTABLISH PRIMA FACIE ENTITLEMENT TO SUMMARY JUDGMENT WHERE INJURY CAUSED BY TREE FALLING IN ROADWAY.
28-YEAR PRE-INDICTMENT DELAY IN THIS MURDER CASE DID NOT VIOLATE DEFENDANT’S RIGHT TO DUE PROCESS; DNA PROFILE STEMMING FROM DEFENDANT’S 2008 ARREST MATCHED BLOOD EVIDENCE FROM THE 1984 MURDER (SECOND DEPT).

Categories

Sign Up for the Mailing List to Be Notified When the Site Is Updated.

  • This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.

Copyright © 2025 New York Appellate Digest, Inc.
Site by CurlyHost | Privacy Policy

DEFENDANT PROPERTY OWNER FAILED TO DEMONSTRATE IT WAS THE ALTER EGO OF PLAINTIFF’S... PLAINTIFFS’ ACTION ALLEGING THE LOBBYING ACT IS UNCONSTITUTIONAL AS APPLIED...