Brown v. Niagara Fire Insurance

RIDGE, District Judge.

In this removal action plaintiff seeks recovery upon an insurance policy, and under Section 375.420 of the Missouri Statutes, R.S.Mo.1949, V.A.M.S. for vexatious refusal to pay the proceeds thereof, plaintiff claims his statutory damages as follows: the amount of his loss, $2,000; the statutory ten per cent maximum penalty for vexatious refusal to pay, $200; and a “reasonable” attorney’s fee. Plaintiff now questions by way of the instant motion to remand the presence in controversy of $3,000, our requisite jurisdictional minimum. 28 U.S.C. § 1332.

As defendant admits, the…