Page:Parker v. Southern Farm Bureau Casualty Insurance Co.pdf/20

1092   than [himself]." At the first hearing on the discovery request, counsel for Parker argued to the court:

"We think under the liberal discovery rules that we are entitled to that information. Were that not true, you could never really and completely prove the tort of bad faith for failure to pay insurance coverage because you need to see what the insurance company itself has done and said with regard to your file, your own claim, as well as how they have treated other or similarly situated claimants and whether they dealt with thisplaintiff differently than they have dealt with other claimants, andwas there some reason for that. This relates to both the last ten (10) notices of cancellation that they gave to their insureds for non-payment of premiums and to information from our own claim file."

(Emphasis added.)

The trial court denied the discovery request due to irrelevance and granted the protective order. What transpired next was the trial court's grant of summary judgment on the bad-faith claim for the stated reason that "the court finds an insufficient factual basis to support it." My response to that statement in the court's order is that Parker was foreclosed, at least in part, from developing his factual basis.

Again, this was not a fishing expedition. Nor was it an effort to garner information merely for impeachment purposes. It was an attempt by Parker to verify essential representations by Farm Bureau that went to the heart of his bad-faith claim. If Farm Bureau in fact was treating him differently, this would comprise a vital element of his case and would be probative of dishonesty on the part of the carrier. I would not shut the door on this essential inquiry but would require Farm Bureau to support its representation made in sworn depositions that all insureds like Parker were treated the same. Finally, I am not troubled by privacy concerns for the 20 insureds. Redaction of names and other information that might identify those insureds could be easily accomplished, and the trial court could review the redacted notices in camera to assure privacy rights are protected.

Also, the majority focuses on the post-litigation point for the