MIAMI — Insurance company Progressive failed to obtain summary judgment in a lawsuit over a 2008 crash between a car and a child on a scooter.
U.S. District Judge Beth Bloom, on the bench of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida, issued a 15-page ruling on Nov. 25 denying the motion for summary judgment in the lawsuit filed by the guardians of Wallace Mosley, Roslyn Weaver and Dina Cellini, against the insurer.
The minor and his guardians sued Progressive on grounds of first and third party bad faith, and breach
of duty. The lawsuit followed a separate legal action by the family in which they sought damages in excess of $22 million, which was awarded by a circuit court in Broward County on Nov. 6, 2014.
The case started in Nov. 17, 2008, when the minor was hit by a car while riding a scooter in Fort Lauderdale. The car was being driven by a driver insured by Progressive, the ruling said. The 11-year-old child was allegedly flung 100 feet and hospitalized, it said.
Earl Lloyd, the driver in the accident, had a policy that contained, per the ruling, "bodily injury limits of $10,000.00 per person, and a maximum of $20,000.00 per occurrence."
Lloyd allegedly did not report the accident, and Progressive was contacted about the crash by an attorney appointed by the minor's family, the ruling said. Although Lloyd claimed that the minor was OK, Progressive "proactively initiated a tender for full bodily injury limits of $10,000.00," the ruling said.
A settlement was attempted, unsuccessfully.
In October 2014, despite Lloyd claiming immunity to Florida's laws by being a Moorish Sovereign, a circuit court judge awarded $22,663,058 in damages.
In 2017, Progressive was accused of not having acted in good faith, sparking the subsequent lawsuit.
In her ruling, Judge Bloom said, regarding the minor's family's claims of bad faith on Progressive's part, that "there is sufficient evidence to create a jury question regarding whether Progressive breached its duty of good
faith."
U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida Case number 0:14-cv-62850-BB