An Allegheny County man is suing an Ohio-based firm doing business in Pennsylvania, alleging bad faith, unfair trade practices, and breach of contract in an automobile accident for which the plaintiff demands full coverage.
Marc Homer of Bethel Park sued Nationwide Mutual Insurance Co. of Columbus, Ohio, in the U.S. District Court Western District of Pennsylvania on Sept. 10, claiming fraudulent practice regarding a May 2008 collision that allegedly left him with severe permanent injuries.
According to the complaint, Homer was driving his 2001 Jeep Grand Cherokee westbound on state Route 188, also known as Jefferson Road, in Jefferson Township in Greene County on May 24, 2008, when a third party, Susan S. Haring, operating a 2007 Ford Focus driving eastbound, negligently struck Haring’s vehicle when she supposedly left her travel lane.
The lawsuit states that when the head-on collision caused Homer’s vehicle to roll over onto its roof, he sustained traumatic head injuries, impaired cognition and spinal injury. Additionally, he claims lasting aphasia, post-traumatic stress disorder and shock.
Alleging lost earning capacity, pain, suffering, anguish, embarrassment, impaired health, diminished capacity to enjoy life and medical expenses, Homer argues that Nationwide did not adequately compensate him under its bodily injury limits despite overtly stated and fully documented coverage.
After negotiation, the suit states, Nationwide failed to reach an acceptable settlement with the plaintiff in 2010. Homer charges the defendant with bad faith, alleging that the firm intentionally failed to review medical evidence and expert witness testimony in the case.
Homer seeks compensatory and punitive damages of more than $75,000, interest, treble damages, attorney’s fees, and court costs. He is represented by Andrew J. Leger Jr. of the Law Office of Andrew J. Leger Jr. in Pittsburgh.
U.S. District Court Western District of Pennsylvania 2:15-cv-01184-NBF