Government Employees Insurance v. Smith

On February 18, 2002, the plaintiff, Government Employees Insurance Company (GEICO), filed a subrogation action against the defendant, David Smith, for property damage related to a traffic accident with Rosalyn Walton, GEICO’s subroger.

On August 19, 2002, a mandatory arbitration hearing took place and the arbitrators entered an award in favor of GEICO. However, the arbitrators’ order noted “bad faith participation by [GEICO] in that [GEICO] failed to produce, pursuant to [a] Rule 237 Notice To Produce [166 Ill. 2d R. 237(b)] ‘GEICO estimator John Ciullo’ as to the issue of amount of damages.”

B…