BENTON -- For the second time in less than a year, district judge Nancy Rosenstengel has denied a group of defendants’ motion to reject a class action suit accusing insurance companies of illegally withholding interest on payments for services covered through workers’ compensation.
In a case that first came before the court in September 2017, Rosenstengel of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Illinois entered her latest ruling March 18.
As part of his filing, Beatty, a plastic surgeon from Edwardsville, also alleged violations of the Illinois Consumer Fraud and Deceptive Business Practices Act (ICFA), arguing that the defendants tried to cover their tracks by passing along erroneous information to doctors in hopes that the statute of limitations binding their dealings would expire.
In seeking to have the first verdict reconsidered or a certification of the court’s order, defendants Accident Fund General Insurance Group and Tristar Insurance Group, argued that not only do they not have to pay interest in accordance with state law but that the action also failed to state a claim.
The defendants also argued that the court erred in its first ruling. They relied on a number of recent court decisions, including a ruling where an appellate court rejected a plaintiffs attempt to sue an insurance company under the ICFA.