Court refuses to set aside Zurich appeal of default judgment
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A federal appeals court has refused to set aside a $1.5 million default judgment against a Zurich Insurance Group Ltd. policyholder whom the insurer has been unable to contact.
In 2013, Bayardo Reno Sandy was rear-ended by a tractor trailer owned by Brampton, Ontario-based Sunmoon Freight Inc., according to court papers in Monday’s ruling by the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco in Bayardo Reno Sandy v. Sunmoon Freight Inc., a foreign corporation and Zurich American Insurance Co.
He filed suit against Sunmoon, which was insured by Schaumburg, Illinois-based Zurich American Insurance, and was subsequently awarded a default judgment in the amount of $1.5 million by the U.S. District Court in Phoenix.
Zurich, which had been given permission by the District Court for its counsel to defend Sunmoon, moved to set aside or vacate the judgment.
The insurer said in court papers it has been unable to contact anyone at the trucking firm, which was apparently no longer operating. It said the court should vacate its default judgment as void because a hearing had not been held and Mr. Sandy had presented insufficient evidence to support the damages that were awarded.
The District Court refused to vacate the default judgment, which a three-judge appeals court panel affirmed on appeal.
“Even assuming Zurich meets the requirements for a nonparty to appeal an adverse ruling, the district court did not abuse its discretion” in its ruling, said the panel, in refusing to set aside the judgment.
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