Fort Myers Partner Shawn Gillispe and Associate Adam Heisner won a Motion for Judgment on the Pleadings on behalf of our client, a major insurance carrier, in The United States District Court, Middle District of Florida on Friday.
Plaintiff was rear-ended by a US Postal worker, while in the course and scope of work for the United States. Plaintiff sued the United States of America and our client. Our client was the uninsured motorist carrier for the Plaintiff. Plaintiff claimed that she was entitled to UM coverage under the Progressive policy and the postal worker was uninsured.
We argued that the United States was not uninsured and judgments or settlements are paid under the Federal Tort Claims Act. We argued that the Federal Tort Claims Act waives sovereign immunity for cases involving negligence committed by federal employees in the course of their employment, and therefore coverage is unlimited and uninsured motorist coverage could never be reached. We further argued specific policy language that coverage would not apply to any obligation for which the US Government is liable under the Federal Tort Claims Act. The Court agreed with our positions.
The Court held that because the tortfeasor’s liability limits would cover the amount of damages claimed by the Plaintiff, the Plaintiff does not qualify as an uninsured motorist under the clear language of the statute. Therefore, the Court granted our Motion and dismissed our client from the case. The Plaintiff also filed a CRN against our client for non-payment of UM coverage, which will also be dismissed. The client is very happy with the result.
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