Keches Law Group announced today that the Massachusetts Superior Court has issued a sweeping judgment, #2284CV00652-BLS2, exceeding $90 million in favor of a union mason who previously won a $26.6 million jury verdict in 2021. The Court found that Peerless Insurance Company, Liberty Mutual Fire Insurance Company, and Ohio Casualty Insurance Company engaged in unfair and deceptive insurance practices in violation of G.L. c. 93A and G.L. c. 176D, warranting the imposition of punitive multiple damages. The judgment, still accruing interest, is among the largest reported bad-faith insurance awards in Massachusetts history.
Background: A Pattern of Misconduct After the 2021 Verdict
The client, a 27-year veteran mason and Local 3 Union member, suffered catastrophic spinal and orthopedic injuries while working inside an improperly constructed and OSHA-violative interior scaffold during the Longfellow Bridge rehabilitation project in Boston. A Middlesex County jury found the contractor responsible in 2021 and awarded the plaintiff $26.6 million.
Following that verdict, Keches Law Group pursued a separate 93A/176D claim, arguing that the insurers failed to conduct a fair and reasonable investigation and continued to deny or delay resolution despite overwhelming evidence of liability.
Court Finds Repeated and Willful Violations by Insurers
After a 10-day bench trial, the Court found that the insurers engaged in a series of serious investigative failures, including:
- Ignoring critical safety documents required under the MassDOT contract
- Overlooking OSHA violations involving dangerously gapped scaffolding
- Relying on an unreliable witness and theories unsupported by admissible evidence
- Producing internal reports that misstated or omitted key facts
- Failing to reasonably evaluate liability even after it was unquestionably clear
The Court concluded that these actions constituted willful or knowing violations of Massachusetts insurance law – conduct expressly designed to protect injured people from unfair treatment by insurance companies.
“A powerful message to insurers”
Attorney Andrew Abraham, who tried both the original case and the 93A claim, stated: “This judgment sends a powerful message: insurers cannot ignore safety violations, manipulate facts, or delay justice for severely injured workers. His life was changed forever because the worksite was unsafe, and the insurers made the situation worse by refusing to deal with him fairly. Today’s decision restores accountability.”
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