Cori and Keri Rigsby are Under Pressure and it’s not a pretty story to tell. Anita Lee tells it well in today’s Sun Herald.
The Rigsbys have lost their careers and insurance company friends. Corporate attorneys have grilled them under oath, several times each, about their personal lives, tax returns and travel expenses.
Their former employer, the independent adjusting firm E.A. Renfroe, is suing them for money they say they do not have.
Cori Rigsby has been forced to put her house on the market. She can no longer afford it. Kerri Rigsby’s wedding is on hold because she does not want her fiancé saddled with potential legal judgments.
Still, they say, their greatest regret is that events have allowed Renfroe and State Farm to twist their motives…
The Rigsbys’ whistle-blower lawsuit is still pending against State Farm, but its future is uncertain. A judge has disqualified all attorneys associated with Scruggs from participating in cases against Renfroe and State Farm. The Rigsbys have been disqualified from testifying, or using any documents they took, in the cases. In issuing his order, U.S. District Judge L.T. Senter Jr. called their consulting jobs a “sham.”
The Rigsbys now find themselves on the defensive. Their mother, Pat Lobrano of Ocean Springs, has seen the stress they’ve been under during months of questioning from State Farm and Renfroe attorneys.
“I think they are trying to make an example of the girls so that no adjuster will ever, ever do this again,” Lobrano said. “I’m just horrified that I encouraged the girls to do the right thing and this is what happened. Justice does not prevail. I’ll never feel the same about our system.”
Lobrano and the Rigsbys don’t bear Scruggs any ill will and in fact recently drove to Oxford for a federal hearing in the bribery case. They spoke to him briefly, telling him they were sorry about his troubles. They still believe his guiding motivation in Katrina litigation was to help policyholders.
Anita Lee tells their personal story in the context of the larger story of their whistle blower claim. Having provided this snapshot to introduce the sisters, I’ll let Sop develop big picture.
Two things struck me in the piece Nowdy, one was the quote from their Mom, Ms Lobrano.
That is a common sentiment down here as State Farm appears to have a habit of acting out only to buy their way out:
Getting an unfriendly judge defeated appears to be a new practice. Anyone else remember Illinois?
The shame is the same bunch hot after Dickie Scruggs has no problem letting State Farm off the hook. Most telling IMHO.
sop
“no problem letting SF off the hook” and blaming in on Scruggs and/or the Rigsby’s”
I want to see the evidence presented in some court regardless of what’s admissible or not. There needs to be a record – and something needs to be done about all these confidential settlements.
I understand SF argues “trade secrets” – guess they cooked up a magic recipe – but people buying insurance need to be able to determine if they’re comfortable with the way the company settles claims.
end of Monday morning rant!
One thing I know is that without the Rigby’s sisters none of us on the Mississippi Gulf Coast would have know just what State Farm was doing. Their actions lead at least one homeowner to directly contact their State Farm engineer and their report ended up being used in Congress as an example of a so called “fake engineering report”. So what the Rigby’s did was not directed against State Farm but was FOR the people of the Gulf Coast. We know that and State Farm is merely trying to hide their own wrong doings.
The harrassment of the Rigby’s sisters just indicates how seriously State Farm wants to NOT change its ways. A legally minded company would want to root out its bad employee’s and change its practices to prevent the abuse of its clients.