Affiliated Fm Insurance Co

A Los Angeles jury Monday socked a Rhode Island insurance company with a $57.8-million punitive verdict for wrongly rejecting massive damage claims from a 1991 hurricane that devastated the U.S. territory of American Samoa. The punitive award is double the $28.9 million in actual damages that the Los Angeles County Superior Court jury found was suffered by the government of American Samoa, which held the hurricane insurance policy. The total judgment against the insurer is $86.7 million.

A Los Angeles jury Monday socked a Rhode Island insurance company with a $57.8-million punitive verdict for wrongly rejecting massive damage claims from a 1991 hurricane that devastated the U.S. territory of American Samoa. The punitive award is double the $28.9 million in actual damages that the Los Angeles County Superior Court jury found was suffered by the government of American Samoa, which held the hurricane insurance policy. The total judgment against the insurer is $86.7 million.

Liggett Group Inc. lost a bid to force insurance companies to defend it from tobacco-related litigation, as the company faces mounting legal fees and millions of dollars in pending jury awards. President Judge Henry DuPont Ridgely of the Delaware Superior Court found in favor of the insurance companies on nine summary judgment motions in lawsuits that covered policies held from 1970 to 2000, according to court documents.