Mike Kreidler v. Danny Pixler

MEMORANDUM

Defendants-Appellants Anthony Huff, Sheri Huff, and Midwest Merger Management LLC (“Midwest”) appeal from the district court’s judgment, following a jury trial in this diversity case, in favor of Plaintiff-Appellee Mike Kreidler, the Insurance Commissioner for the State of Washington and the receiver for Cascade National Insurance Company (“Cascade”). The court awarded Kreidler $19.8 million, which represented the amount due and unpaid for workers’ compensation claims paid by Cascade for over 15,000 California workers. We have jurisdiction under 28 U.S.C. § 1291 , and we affirm.

I. Background

Anthony Huff and co-defendant Danny Pixler used Midwest, a Kentucky company, to serve as an intermediary between Cascade, the insurance carrier, and a profes sional employer organization (“PEO”), the entity that serves as the policyholder for workers and their employers. Ordinarily the carrier pays workers’ compensation insurance claims while the PEO collects premiums and pays the carrier for the policy. Here, however, all payments went through Midwest before Cascade was paid. In the process, Huff, his wife Sheri, and others siphoned millions of dollars for personal use and…