^$1.8 Million

Insurance Bad Faith Settlement

Our firm represented an oil field trucker who injured his low back while changing a tire during a work shift. While the work comp claim was initially accepted, the insurer later denied the claim after obtaining a medical causation opinion from a bought and paid for orthopedic surgeon, also called an Independent Medical Examiner by insurance companies. The insurance company doctor was not provided with all of the critical medical records and spent less than 10 minutes with the client. After the denial was taken all the way to the Montana Workers' Compensation Court, where the denial was reversed and the insurer was penalized, Mr. Odegaard filed a lawsuit alleging common law and statutory insurance bad faith claims. Critical to the bad faith settlement amount was the unrefuted medical opinion secured by Mr. Odegaard that the clients low back condition had been permanently compromised due to the delays in critical medical treatment due to the work comp insurer's denial of any medical treatment for nearly 18 months.