Pistorius

Plaintiff brought this action upon a disability insurance policy for (a) declaratory relief to determine disability; (b) bad faith breach of the covenant of good faith and fair dealing; (c) unpaid disability benefits under the policy; (d) general damages; (e) punitive damages; and (f) attorney’s fees. The case was tried to a jury which brought in a special verdict that defendant handled plaintiff’s claim in an “unreasonable” manner and in “bad faith,” as a result of which plaintiff sustained compensatory damages in the amount of $45,000; and punitive damages were assessed against defendant in the sum of $1 million. From the judgment entered upon the verdict, defendant appeals, contending there were errors in instructions, that the compensatory damages were grossly excessive and the award of punitive damages should be reversed or drastically reduced. Ultimately, defendant asks us to reverse the judgment and order a new trial.

Facts

Plaintiff purchased the disability insurance policy from an agent of defendant (a Mr. Gadras) in 1970. Plaintiff was 33 years of age, married, with 4 children. He had been a truck driver since he left military service in 1958 and had received…