Hurricane Katrina Insurance Action, and RICO Matter

Bradley v. Allstate Ins. Co., No. 09-30035, involved an action against an insurer seeking proceeds for property damage due to Hurricane Katrina.  The court of appeals affirmed summary judgment for defendant in part, on the grounds that 1) the district court did not err in concluding that defendant was entitled to judgment as a matter of law on the claim for loss of contents and 2) because plaintiffs did not establish any plausible breach of contract for unpaid additional living expenses (ALE), there was no basis for asserting a bad faith claim against defendant with respect to unpaid ALE.  However, the court vacated in part, on the grounds that 1) under the policy's total loss provision, plaintiffs were entitled to recover up to the policy limit for covered losses, and the district court erred by ignoring the total loss provision; and 2) the district court erred by calculating the actual cash value of the property based on the pre-storm market value of the house.

Joffroin v. Tufaro, No. 09-30984, concerned a RICO action alleging that defendants, developers of a subdivision in which plaintiffs owned homes, neglected the common areas and diverted assessments for their own benefit.  The court of appeals affirmed the dismissal of the action, holding that plaintiffs' alleged injuries derived from injuries to their homeowner's association and plaintiffs thus lacked standing to bring a direct suit.

Related Resources

• Full Text of Bradley v. Allstate Ins. Co., No. 09-30035
• Full Text of Joffroin v. Tufaro, No. 09-30984