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Archae

(46,327 posts)
Thu Nov 9, 2017, 01:41 AM Nov 2017

James O'Keefe is back in the news..(But you're gonna love it...)

(snicker) (snort)
Bwahahahahahahaha!!!

‘Planned Parenthood sting’ filmmaker James O’Keefe is fighting his insurance company for not paying his massive legal bills

It turns out conservative filmmaker James O’Keefe, who is best known for his infamous phony “sting” into Planned Parenthood, is fighting a new battle — against his insurer.

According to BuzzFeed News, O’Keefe claims Gemini Insurance Company, the agents he hired to protect him, should be paying his massive legal bills from all the lawsuits leveled against him and his organization Project Veritas.
In September, BuzzFeed discovered, O’Keefe and Veritas sued Gemini for “wrongful denial to defend and indemnify” and breach of contract after the agency refused to pay for lawsuits against them. Those lawsuits include defamation claims taken out against Veritas and Breitbart by the president of a teacher’s union after they published a “creatively edited” undercover video that “make [Kansas teachers’ union president Steve Wentz] appear violent and dangerous.”
Arbitration documents BuzzFeed obtained show that Gemini is fighting Veritas and O’Keefe “over coverage for four different lawsuits.”

“According to the arbitration complaint,” BuzzFeed reports, “Project Veritas and its operatives incurred more than $160,000 in legal fees without Gemini’s assistance. The complaint said that Gemini’s contract insured Project Veritas for $1,000,000 on each claim and in total, with a deductible of $25,000 for each claim.”
In their counter, Gemini said Veritas their claims didn’t fall within that policy because the group “misrepresented itself in its insurance application: specifically, Gemini said that Project Veritas reported that it had obtained consent from people appearing in its videos.”

https://www.rawstory.com/2017/11/planned-parenthood-sting-filmmaker-james-okeefe-is-fighting-his-insurance-company-for-not-paying-his-massive-legal-bills/

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James O'Keefe is back in the news..(But you're gonna love it...) (Original Post) Archae Nov 2017 OP
Some risks are uninsurable: struggle4progress Nov 2017 #1
Can't believe I'm actually siding with an insurance company on a payout dispute. nocalflea Nov 2017 #2
We live in bizarre times, don't we? Ilsa Nov 2017 #18
Insurance Companies Often Defend With Reservation of Rights Stallion Nov 2017 #3
Pay Out Prick SeattlePop Nov 2017 #4
IM not so sure about that BannonsLiver Nov 2017 #19
Arbitration Complaint? rpannier Nov 2017 #5
Ha ha ha ... bummer it stinks to be you O'Keefe. Your mission was to hurt democrats. tough luck, trueblue2007 Nov 2017 #6
May he spend the rest of his life fighting with insurance companies. SunSeeker Nov 2017 #7
I thought insurance companies only provided insurance for physical injuries and or property damage cstanleytech Nov 2017 #8
It's common for insurance companies to provide liability insurance. Jim Lane Nov 2017 #14
Do not such policies have a clause that allow the insurance companies to cstanleytech Nov 2017 #15
That relates to the first of the three issues I mentioned. Jim Lane Nov 2017 #20
I dispute the *best known for his infamous phony sting into Planned Parenthood* part... JHB Nov 2017 #9
It's about time they stopped calling O'Keefe "conservative" DFW Nov 2017 #10
K&R demmiblue Nov 2017 #11
Boo Hoo Gothmog Nov 2017 #12
ohhhh, geeee, my heart just bleeds. . . . NOT!! niyad Nov 2017 #13
It doesnt always pay to be an asshole. MrScorpio Nov 2017 #16
How can you file a claim on your accident insurance Mr. Ected Nov 2017 #17

struggle4progress

(118,282 posts)
1. Some risks are uninsurable:
Thu Nov 9, 2017, 01:46 AM
Nov 2017
Hi! I'd like a policy that would pay my legal bills if I somehow went berserk, raping my neighbors, burning down their houses, poisoning their pets, or anything like that

Ilsa

(61,695 posts)
18. We live in bizarre times, don't we?
Thu Nov 9, 2017, 07:51 PM
Nov 2017

A year and a half ago I was cheering on Mitt Rmoney as he called a news conference to rip into trump's ass.

Stallion

(6,474 posts)
3. Insurance Companies Often Defend With Reservation of Rights
Thu Nov 9, 2017, 01:52 AM
Nov 2017

which means that the Plaintiff's pleadings on their face assert a cause of action which is arguably covered by the policy. The insurance company is required to provide a defense (and pay attorney's fees) but can subsequently withdrawal the defense if they can establish based on their factual investigation of the claim that the lawsuit does not fit within the terms of the policy or that there is an exception in the policy that establishes a defense to their obligation to pay. Every word in an insurance policy is written to avoid paying a claim. Insurance companies are in the business of NOT paying claims-not paying claims. Boo-Hoo

 

SeattlePop

(256 posts)
4. Pay Out Prick
Thu Nov 9, 2017, 02:36 AM
Nov 2017

Just don't plan on owning anything for 7 years.

Oops forgot.

He is Republican smear merchant.

Some billionaire will bail him out.

Scum helping scum.

BannonsLiver

(16,387 posts)
19. IM not so sure about that
Thu Nov 9, 2017, 08:14 PM
Nov 2017

O’Keefe has a lot of problems, not the least of which is he’s really never delivered on what he promised. He’s made some small splashes here or there but nothing game changing. I think the word on the street is O’Keefe’s pretty overrated.

rpannier

(24,329 posts)
5. Arbitration Complaint?
Thu Nov 9, 2017, 02:41 AM
Nov 2017

Good luck with that jamie
My guess is, the arbitrator was chosen by the insurance company

SunSeeker

(51,557 posts)
7. May he spend the rest of his life fighting with insurance companies.
Thu Nov 9, 2017, 02:54 AM
Nov 2017

That way, he will already be used to what hell is like when he goes to hell.

cstanleytech

(26,291 posts)
8. I thought insurance companies only provided insurance for physical injuries and or property damage
Thu Nov 9, 2017, 03:56 AM
Nov 2017

not because you got your butt sued for maliciously lying?

 

Jim Lane

(11,175 posts)
14. It's common for insurance companies to provide liability insurance.
Thu Nov 9, 2017, 05:34 PM
Nov 2017

The most familiar example is auto insurance. In New York at least, and I think in every other state, you must obtain liability insurance in at least a certain amount before being allowed to operate the vehicle on the highway. The purpose is that, if you negligently cause an accident but you don't have any money, the injured victim will be able to get at least something from the insurance company, which will have to pay the damages up to the policy limit. (The required minimum is ridiculously low, but that's another issue.)

It seems clear that O'Keefe did purchase liability insurance. The issues he faces are whether the claims asserted in each of these lawsuits are within the scope of the terms of the policy; if so, whether liability insurance for claims of that type is prohibited by the applicable law; and whether the insurance company can avoid whatever obligations it would otherwise have under the contract by showing that the contract was fraudulently induced. O'Keefe has to win every one of those issues to get the benefit of the coverage.

cstanleytech

(26,291 posts)
15. Do not such policies have a clause that allow the insurance companies to
Thu Nov 9, 2017, 06:13 PM
Nov 2017

refuse payment if it was a deliberate action on your part that instituted the incident in the first place?

 

Jim Lane

(11,175 posts)
20. That relates to the first of the three issues I mentioned.
Thu Nov 9, 2017, 09:39 PM
Nov 2017

Such a clause would come up in the context of "whether the claims asserted in each of these lawsuits are within the scope of the terms of the policy." There's a possibility that the claims against O'Keefe might be worded so broadly that at least one of them is covered.

Frankly, though, I'd rather think about the third issue -- fraudulent inducement. Some boilerplate language in an insurance policy that O'Keefe didn't read is much less interesting than the allegation that he lied to get the policy.

If the suit turns on that, we have an insurance company pouring money and legal talent into proving that O'Keefe's a liar. As a bonus, the company could compel O'Keefe to produce all relevant documents and then to answer questions under oath (i.e. penalty of perjury) at an examination before trial. If that's not enough, the company could also issue subpoenas to nonparties who might have relevant information. And all this gets done by lawyers who are used to defending claims and whose client/employer has a big financial incentive to destroy O'Keefe's credibility. Gotta love it.

JHB

(37,160 posts)
9. I dispute the *best known for his infamous phony sting into Planned Parenthood* part...
Thu Nov 9, 2017, 04:37 AM
Nov 2017

He's best known for his fraudulent ACORN 'sting' videos, and making a career of similar frauds, of which the fraudulent Planned Parenthood video is merely the latest.

DFW

(54,379 posts)
10. It's about time they stopped calling O'Keefe "conservative"
Thu Nov 9, 2017, 04:52 AM
Nov 2017

He's just a right wing troublemaker who has conned other right-wingers into financing his antics. There is nothing conservative at all about this con artist.

As for his argument that the people in his videos gave their consent, well, that is about as believable as a condemned man giving his consent to the firing squad.

Mr. Ected

(9,670 posts)
17. How can you file a claim on your accident insurance
Thu Nov 9, 2017, 07:42 PM
Nov 2017

When the proximate cause of your claim was no accident?

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