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California Appeals Court Affirms Punitive Damages Verdict Against Provident & Paul Revere

In a well-publicized decision in California in 2002, a jury in a federal court rendered a $5 million punitive damage award to a former chiropractor to punish two of UnumProvident's subsidiaries, Provident and Paul Revere. The insurance company appealed the verdict, but a panel of federal judges has now affirmed the total award, including the punitive damages, in the sum of $7.6 million.

California is one of the few States in the country that allows plaintiffs to pursue punitive damages against an insurer for a bad faith claim denial.