Yee
Yee v. Superior Court of the City & Cnty. of S.F.
Opinion
Lead Opinion
Kline, J.
*28 After the dismissal of a lawsuit in which an insurance company challenged efforts by the state controller to conduct an unclaimed property audit, the insurer sued the controller's office for abuse of process in the dismissed case. The controller's office petitions for relief from a trial court order rejecting its claim of immunity under *441 the Government Tort Claims Act. We conclude relief is warranted.
BACKGROUND
Thrivent Financial for Lutherans (Thrivent) is an out-of-state insurance company doing business in California. In August 2013, as part of a multistate investigation of insurance practices focused on the handling of unclaimed property due to be escheated to the state, the Controller of the State of California (Controller) initiated an audit of Thrivent's records, seeking to audit records covering more than 20 years and policies issued across the country.
Thrivent sought injunctive and declaratory relief, claiming the audit was unconstitutional and overbroad. The trial court denied its request for a preliminary injunction, stating it had not established a likelihood of success on the merits, and Thrivent appealed.