Film companies subject to $60 million jury award sue insurance company [The Santa Fe New Mexican]

Jan. 16—Two film companies ordered by a jury last month to pay more than $60 million to a cameraman injured on a film set in New Mexico allege in a new lawsuit their insurance company should have settled with James Razo before he took them to court.

Razo, who lives in Los Angeles, had sued Black Label Media and No Exit Film after he was injured in 2016 on the set of Only the Brave, a movie about a group of elite Hotshot firefighters filmed in part at the Pajarito Mountain Ski Area near Los Alamos.

His work required the use of a mobile camera crane unit weighing about 3,000 pounds fully loaded, according to his lawsuit, filed in 2019 in state District Court.

The shoot was at the top of a peak in challenging mountainous terrain, Razo's suit said, adding he asked for time to install tank treads on the unit, which would have taken about three hours, and to scout the steep route up the mountain.

Instead, he alleged, he was directed to get the camera unit immediately to the set, and as he drove up the mountain the front end of the camera unit lost traction and starting to slide, eventually standing up on its rear wheels before tipping backward, knocking Razo unconscious and trapping him under its weight.

Razo was airlifted to University of New Mexico Hospital in Albuquerque with severe spinal cord and brain injuries. Several of his body parts were crushed, he said in a recent interview.

After several years of litigation, the case went to trial in December, and a jury awarded Razo and his wife over

$66 million.

Jurors determined Black Label Media was 63 percent responsible for his injuries and No Exit Film was 18 percent responsible, according to a special verdict form. The jury also determined Razo was

19 percent responsible for the incident, which reduced the amount of damages owed to him by about $6 million.

State District Judge Matthew Wilson entered a final judgment in the case Jan. 5, ordering the two companies to pay Razo more than $60 million, one of the largest awards in New Mexico history.

The companies filed a complaint a day later against New York Marine and General Insurance alleging breach of contract. The Jan. 6 suit says the insurance company put its own interests ahead of the film companies' interests by failing to reach a settlement with Razo.

None of the parties responded to calls seeking comment Monday.

The companies had two polices with New York Marine with a combined liability limit of $11 million, according to the complaint.

The film companies repeatedly asked the insurance firm to settle the claim, the suit says, but New York Marine refused. Instead, it hired outside counsel to fight Razo's claim for several years. The companies demanded the settlement again as the trial approached. New York Marine still refused and only made offers that were "lower than appropriate," the lawsuit says.

Four days before the Dec. 19 trial, it says, the Razo family asked for $9 million to settle the case, but the insurance company refused and "made no counter offer."

During the trial, the insurer offered the family $5 million, the suit says, but the "gamble did not pay off."

The jury returned a verdict in favor of the Razo family

Dec. 23.

The film companies say the insurer has suggested it "will not take responsibility for its failed gamble" and won't pay more than the policy limits or fully cover a bond that would need to be posted to appeal the judgment.

The insurer's actions amount to "tortious breach of implied covenant of good faith and fair dealing," the companies say. They are asking the state District Court to find New York Marine breached its duties and order it to pay all costs that resulted from the company's failure to settle the case.

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