$145,260,000

Insurance Bad Faith

Jury Verdict

 

This was an insurance bad faith trial in Denver, Colorado stemming from the bad faith denial of a workers’ compensation claim. Colorado is one of two states in the country that allow for workers’ compensation insurance bad faith claims.

Our client, Fermin Salguero, was a painter who sustained significant injuries, including a severe traumatic brain injury, when he fell approximately 16 feet from a ladder while working. Fermin made a timely workers’ compensation claim but the insurance company, NorGUARD Insurance Company denied the claim, without a factual basis to do so.

The insurance company first argued that Fermin was not an employee of the insured company, even though the insurance company’s own investigator confirmed that Fermin was an employee. Because of the claim denial, Fermin was denied immediate inpatient rehabilitation treatment that would have helped improve his neurological impairments.

Trial began on March 31, 2025, and jury returned a verdict for Fermin on April 9, 2025, in the amount of $145,260,000, as follows:

$5,260,000 for non-economic losses or injuries

$80,000,000 for physical impairment or disfigurement

$60,000,000 for punitive damages

Claggett & Sykes Trial Counsel – Sean Claggett (lead trial attorney), Geordan Logan, James Murphy, Micah Echols