Garden Grove : Award Against Firm Cut by $13.5 Million
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An investigative agency that persuaded a judge to reduce a damage award against it by $13.5 million will probably still appeal the verdict, a lawyer said Tuesday.
Superior Court Judge Richard W. Luesebrink found the Oct. 3 jury verdict of $15.5 million against Equifax Services Inc. excessive and ordered it reduced to $1.93 million.
The verdict was in favor of the husband and son of Patricia Bancroft, co-owner of a Garden Grove restaurant, who was denied medical insurance benefits while she lay dying in 1980 because of a mistaken investigative report prepared by Equifax, a national firm based in Atlanta.
Luesebrink cited the “catastrophic” consequences for the firm if the verdict were to be upheld entirely. Equifax has a net worth of $95 million and is heavily in debt.
In a written opinion, the judge stated that the damages are designed “to punish and deter, but not to eliminate.”
The decision would leave the dead woman’s husband, John Bancroft of Anaheim, and her surviving son, Jon, a nurse living in El Toro, with close to $1 million each.
“We are very pleased with what the judge did in reducing the amount of punitive damages,” said Peter R. Taft, the lawyer for Equifax. But Taft said he has good grounds for an appeal and will probably do so “unless a settlement is arranged.”
Associated Life Insurance Co. of Chicago provided medical insurance for the Bancrofts under a policy written for employees of the family’s restaurant, Little Italy. The Bancrofts later lost the restaurant to creditors while struggling to pay the dead woman’s medical bills.
When the mother was hospitalized with complications from diabetes, circulatory ailments and blood in the lungs, the insurance firm asked Equifax to investigate.
Equifax erroneously reported to Associated Life that the mother had been rendered totally disabled before the policy was issued. Equifax charged Associated $60 for the investigation.
The Bancrofts’ lawyer, Martin C. Handweiler, could not be reached Tuesday for comment.
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