Insurance Company Not Liable for Missing Tail Lights
In Johnson v. Liberty Mutual Fire Insur. Co. the Johnsons sued Liberty for spoliation. Judge Gorsuch summarizes the case as follows:
This case is about a pair of missing tail lights and the limits of reasonable foreseeability. Russell and Jennifer Johnson blame Liberty Mutual for failing to hold onto a pair of tail lights that, they say, would have helped them win a personal injury lawsuit they wanted to bring. Problem is, the Johnsons never asked Liberty Mutual to keep the tail lights, never mentioned their intent to sue, and allowed years to pass without a word. Now they fault the company for failing to divine their hidden (and perhaps not yet formed) intentions. Because the Johnsons, quite unsurprisingly, cannot identify a statutory or contractual basis for their claim, they ask us to create one for them in the common law of tort. But, we hold, the common law doesn’t require such uncommon foresight.
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Judge Gorsuch explains:
The Johnsons seek to use the common law in many uncommon ways. They ask us to recognize and enforce an independent spoliation tort, but the Colorado courts have yet to go so far. They say Liberty Mutual neglected its duties as the bailee of their property, but it’s unclear from the record whether the Johnsons even owned the tail lights by the time they asked for them. They argue that Liberty Mutual tortiously (in bad faith) disregarded an insurance obligation, but it’s hardly obvious what obligations Liberty Mutual had as an insurer to help the Johnsons anticipate and prepare for an affirmative lawsuit; no one, after all, suggests that Liberty Mutual had a contractual or statutory duty as insurer to pursue a lawsuit against Zimmerman and Mr. Dellock for the Johnsons. But all these questions pale beside another. To prevail on any of their (putative) tort claims, the Johnsons must show that their claimed damages were reasonably foreseeable — that Liberty Mutual knew or should have known that the destroyed tail lights would be relevant (valuable) evidence in their future affirmative litigation.. . . And this the Johnsons can’t do as a matter of law — either on the evidence at summary judgment (in their spoliation and bailment claims) or on their pleadings at the motion to dismiss stage (in their bad faith claim).
So, there you have it. I cannot improve upon Judge Gorsuch's prose.
