Wednesday, December 2, 2020-Las Vegas-Full Court
75424 AM. AMERICAN CASUALTY CO. VS. CRUZ
Docket Number: 75424
Las Vegas - 10:00 A.M. - En Banc
This is an appeal from a final judgment in an insurance bad faith action. Appellant American Access Casualty Company (AACC) insured respondent Silvia Franco Cruz when she rear-ended another driver. An erroneous police report stated that Cruz was driving a vehicle not insured by AACC. While AACC provided Cruz with a defense to the other driver’s personal injury action, AACC also filed a declaratory judgment action asserting Cruz was not covered. Cruz counterclaimed for breach of contract, bad faith, and unfair trade practices. AACC dismissed its declaratory judgment action, settled the personal injury action, and promptly paid the settlement. A year later, Cruz attempted suicide and was hospitalized for depression. Because AACC failed to respond to Cruz’s request for production of documents and untimely responded to Cruz’s interrogatories, a default was entered against AACC. The district court awarded Cruz $600,000 in compensatory damages and $8,700,000 in punitive damages.
ISSUES:
ISSUES: (1) did the district court abuse its discretion by imposing a case-concluding discovery sanction on AACC, (2) is there substantial evidence in the record supporting the district court’s findings that AACC acted in bad faith and engaged in unfair practices, (3) are consequential damages unavailable for unfair practices, (4) are the damage awards supported by substantial evidence in the record, and (5) are the damage awards excessive.
Disclaimer:
This synopsis is intended to provide only general information about this case before the Nevada Supreme Court. It is not intended to be all-inclusive or reflect all positions of the parties. To access the documents that have been filed in this matter, type the docket number into the court’s case search page: https://caseinfo.nvsupremecourt.us/public/caseSearch.do
79818 GUZMAN VS. JOHNSON
Docket Number: 79818
Las Vegas - 11:00 A.M. - En Banc
This appeal arises from appellant Lisa Guzman’s shareholder complaint seeking damages from a merger that occurred between respondents RLJ Entertainment, Inc. and its controlling stockholder, AMC Networks, Inc. Guzman brought claims arguing that RLJE’s board members and AMC breached their duties to her and other minority shareholders. The district court dismissed the action based on application of the business judgment rule in NRS 78.138.
ISSUES:
The issues on appeal are: (1) whether a plaintiff rebuts the business judgment rule as a matter of law by alleging the fiduciary who facilitated the transaction is an interested party; (2) whether appellant pleaded facts sufficient to rebut the business judgment rule and withstand dismissal; and (3) whether appellant adequately pleaded that the controlling shareholder here breached its fiduciary duties.
Disclaimer:
This synopsis is intended to provide only general information about this case before the Nevada Supreme Court. It is not intended to be all-inclusive or reflect all positions of the parties. To access the documents that have been filed in this matter, type the docket number into the court’s case search page: https://caseinfo.nvsupremecourt.us/public/caseSearch.do