Simmons Foods, Inc. v. Industrial Risk Insurers, No. 15-3755 (8th Cir. 2017)
Annotate this CaseThe Eighth Circuit affirmed the district court's denial of the insurers' motion to dismiss, reversed and vacated the award of prejudgment interest, and affirmed the rejection of Simmons' claims for statutory damages and attorney fees. The court applied Arkansas law and held that the district court properly denied the insurers' motion to dismiss because Simmons's suit was timely. However, the district court's entry of judgment and prejudgment interest was not appropriate where Simmons' damages were not capable of exact determination until the jury spoke. Finally, the district court properly denied Simmons' request for statutory damages and attorney fees, because Simmons did not recover the statutory threshold of at least 80% of the amount it demanded in the suit.
Court Description: Riley, Author, with Loken and Benton, Circuit Judges] Civil case - Insurance. Timeliness of suit is a procedural issue, and the district court did not err in applying Arkansas law, which gives an insured five years to sue, rather than the provisions of the insurance policies which required suit to be initiated within 12 months after inception of the loss; plaintiff's damages were not capable of exact determination until the jury rendered its verdict and the district court entered judgment and, as a a result, plaintiff was not entitled to prejudgment interest under Arkansas law; because plaintiff did not recover the statutory threshold of at least 80% of the amount it demanded in the suit, it was not entitled to statutory damages or attorneys fees.
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