In Homer v. Nationwide Mut. Ins. Co., ___ Fed. App'x ___, No. 16-3686, 2018 WL 1081230 (3d Cir. February 27, 2018), the Third Circuit Court of Appeals refused to recognize an insurance carrier's alleged litigation conduct consisting of retaining and presenting the allegedly skewed testimony of experts, as actionable bad faith.
The Third Circuit based its holding in this case on the record facts and on the Court's understanding that even though Pennsylvania bad faith law allows evidence of litigation conduct in a bad faith lawsuit, still it does not allow "discovery disputes" to rise to the level of actionable bad faith:
Both this Court and the Pennsylvania Superior Court have, however, held that pure discovery violations cannot rise to the level of bad faith. W.V. Realty [W.V. Realty, Inc. v. Northern Ins. Co., 334 F.3d 306], 314 [(3d Cir. 2003)]; O’Donnell [O’Donnell ex rel. Mitro v. Allstate Ins. Co., 734 A.2d 901,] 908-09 [(Pa. Super. Ct. 1999)]..
Homer v. Nationwide Mut. Ins. Co., ___ Fed. App'x ___, No. 16-3686, 2018 WL 1081230, at *2 n.10 (3d Cir. February 27, 2018).
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