The whistleblower case that sisters Kerri and Cori Rigsby brought against State Farm in 2006 continues to make waves, and this time it’s the United States Supreme Court that is weighing in on the matter. The Court chose to uphold the jury verdict in favor of the Rigsbys after State Farm challenged the award on the grounds that their attorney had disclosed information about the case to the media in violation of a court order which required that the case be kept under seal.
The Rigsby’s whistleblower case has its roots in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. The Rigsbys were working as claims adjusters for State Farm, assessing properties that had been damaged by the storm. The sisters examined one home in Biloxi, Mississippi and determined that it had been damaged by the wind. The insurance policy that State Farm has issued for that property included coverage for wind damage, but not for flood damage. State Farm claimed that the property had been damaged by flood and not by the wind, and asserted that the government should pay for the damage. When they discovered that their employer was trying to shift the burden of paying for the damage to the property in Biloxi to the government instead of paying the claim itself, the sisters filed a lawsuit on behalf of the government under the False Claims Act. The False Claims Act exists for situations like the one that the Rigsby’s encountered, situations where individuals believe that the government was defrauded.
The Rigsbys prevailed in their case against State Farm, and in 2013, a jury awarded them over two hundred thousand dollars plus attorneys’ fees in addition to ordering State Farm to pay nearly seven hundred and fifty thousand dollars in total damages. State Farm appealed the verdict to the 5th U. S. Circuit Court of Appeals in New Orleans, which upheld the jury’s verdict. In its appeal to the Supreme Court, State Farm sought to have the jury verdict overturned because the Rigsby’s former lawyer had given information about the case, which was under court order to be sealed, to the media. The media organizations to which the information was disclosed did not reveal the existence of the Rigsby’s lawsuit to the public. The Supreme Court, in its decision, concluded that the disclosures that the Rigsby’s former lawyer had made to the media did not justify overturning the verdict.
The Mississippi Whistleblower Attorneys at Barrett Law PLLC encourage individuals who witness corporate wrongdoing to stand up and take action. Corporations know that there are not enough eyes on them from the outside to catch every violation of the law, and they do not fear that individuals from within their ranks will take action to expose wrongdoing because they have developed effective strategies for intimidating those who would date to do so into remaining silent. Whistleblowers are often the only hope for exposing egregious misconduct on the part of corporations and other organizations, and they need to know that if they choose to step forward and reveal a wrong that they will have support in doing so. That’s why we are here. To learn more, call the Mississippi Whistleblower attorneys at Barrett Law PLLC at 1 (800) 707-9577 to arrange a free, initial consultation.