Court: County’s insurer must pay White’s legal tab [Tampa Tribune, Fla.]

July 13--TAMPA -- A federal appellate court ruled Thursday that Hillsborough County's insurance company must reimburse former county Commissioner Kevin White for legal costs he incurred in a sexual harassment case.

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit in Atlanta upheld a federal district judge's ruling in October that State National Insurance Co. pay White $157,730 for his legal fees defending a sexual harassment lawsuit filed by a former aide, Alyssa Ogden.

White is serving a three-year sentence in federal prison for taking bribes in an unrelated case. The insurance money will go to his former attorney, Steve Wenzel.

Ogden claimed that White fired her for rebuffing his sexual advances. A jury ruled in her favor, awarding her $75,000 -- $15,000 for medical expenses and $60,000 for mental anguish.

In its 13-page ruling, the court rejected State National's argument that White's claims were excluded because of a clause in the policy that denies claims "caused by a willful violation of any statute."

The court said Ogden's federal gender discrimination and sexual harassment claims arose out of the Equal Protections Clause of the U.S. Constitution, not from statutes, which are laws passed by Congress or the states. The fact the jury found White had sexually discriminated against Ogden did not matter, the court said.

The court also ruled that a $350,000 deductible in the county's $500,000-a-year policy had been satisfied by the county.

Hillsborough County's legal fees and court costs amounted to $490,989, which included Ogden's $75,000 judgment and $203,000 for her attorney's fees. After the $350,000 deductible was subtracted, State National paid the county $65,989.

Michael Laurato, White's attorney in this case, said the county should have been reimbursed for the $75,000 judgment awarded Ogden. However, the county agreed with the insurance company that White was not covered for his discriminatory action toward Ogden, Laurato said.

"They only got $65,000 because they agreed the $75,000 they had to pay Ogden wasn't covered by the policy," Laurato said. "The only reason they did that was to hang Kevin out to dry."

The county attorney's office could not be reached for comment Thursday.

Laurato said he plans to file another claim against the insurance company for violating the claims practices law, which he said is meant to discourage insurance companies from denying rightful claims.

"The insurance company was not interested in fairly adjusting this claim," Laurato said.

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