For Immediate Release: December 21, 1999
For More Information Contact: TLPJ, 202-797-8600
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Press Release
Trial Lawyers for Public Justice received notice yesterday that it won a motion in federal district court in Eugene, Oregon that will restore the court file in a consumer fraud case against State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Company that had been erased from the public record. As a result of a secret settlement in Foltz v. State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Company, the court's computers had no record of the lawsuit, the docket sheet had disappeared, and virtually the entire file of the four-year-long case was under seal. The court's ruling requires State Farm to return the case file to the courthouse, vindicating the public's right to know.
"This is a great victory for the public interest," said TLPJ co-counsel Lawrence Baron of Portland. "A lawsuit charging State Farm, one of the nation's largest insurers, with cheating its policyholders was basically excised from the court records. State Farm's customers and the public will now see what State Farm has been so eager to hide."
Foltz was filed in federal district court in Eugene, Oregon in 1994. Debbie Foltz charged that State Farm conspired with a utilization review company to conduct a phony medical review of her file in order to defraud her of medical coverage under her auto policy. After four years of litigation, the parties reached a secret settlement. As part of the settlement, the parties asked the court to enter an order sealing virtually the entire record. Because the court entered the order, only a handful of documents remained in the public record and the history of the case, including the docket sheet, was erased from the court's computer system. Following the settlement, the court also permitted State Farm to remove the case files from the courthouse. As a result, it had been virtually impossible for a member of the public to determine that the case existed, much less view the court record.
The court's ruling requires State Farm to return the records to the courthouse and mandates the unsealing of records that were sealed pursuant to a court order implementing the secrecy provisions of the parties' settlement agreement. Certain portions of the file, which were originally filed under seal pursuant to a protective order entered by the court earlier in the litigation, will remain sealed at this time.
"We are extremely pleased with the court's ruling," said TLPJ co-counsel Matthew Whitman of Lawrence Baron, P.C. in Portland. "The court recognized that there is no valid reason for barring public access to these court records. State Farm can no longer hide its wrongdoing from the public."
TLPJ filed the motion to unseal on behalf of three consumer advocacy groups: Consumer Action, a nonprofit organization dedicated to advocacy and lobbying on behalf of consumers and individuals against corporate financial, insurance and telecommunications institutions; the Insurance Company Accountability Network of Texas Watch, which seeks to eliminate abusive and unfair practices within the insurance industry; and United Policyholders, a nonprofit organization dedicated to educating the public on insurance issues and consumer rights, and to assisting policyholders in securing prompt and fair insurance settlements.
TLPJ's challenge in Foltz is part of Project ACCESS, its nationwide campaign against court secrecy. Through Project ACCESS, TLPJ helps victims oppose unduly restrictive protective orders, intervenes in specific cases to fight for the public's right to know, and educates the courts and the public about the problems posed by litigation in secret.
TLPJ's legal team in this case also includes Kathryn Clarke of Portland, Oregon, who argued the motions, TLPJ Staff Attorney Sarah Posner and TLPJ Consumer Rights Fellow Victoria Nugent.