Ohio Supreme Court Will Hear Nationwide’s Appeal In Agent Dispute

July 28--YOUNGSTOWN -- The Ohio Supreme Court has agreed to hear a dispute between an insurance giant and its former agent, whose office was in Boardman Plaza.

On Wednesday, the state's top court agreed to hear Nationwide Mutual Insurance Co.'s appeal of its dispute with Christine Lucarell.

Nationwide, of Columbus, appealed to that court the unanimous decision of a three-judge panel of the Youngstown-based 7th District Court of Appeals that gave Lucarell more than $2.3 million.

Nationwide's appeal was accompanied by two friend-of-the-court briefs on its behalf, one from the insurance industry and the other from broader business interests.

One of the briefs was from the Ohio Insurance Institute, the National Association of Mutual Insurance Companies and the Association of Ohio Life Insurance Companies.

The other was from the Ohio Alliance for Civil Justice, the Ohio Chamber of Commerce and the Ohio Manufacturers' Association.

The jury in the 2012 trial of Lucarell's lawsuit against Nationwide awarded her $42.8 million in Mahoning County Common Pleas Court, but visiting Judge Thomas J. Pokorny reduced that to $14.1 million after the trial, and the appellate court further reduced it.

The three-judge appellate panel also sent the case back to Judge Pokorny for a new trial on Lucarell's fraud claim and on punitive damages for her breach-of-contract claims.

Lucarell had sued the insurance giant, alleging it breached her contract as a Nationwide agent.

She also alleged Nationwide recruited her and about 400 other agents with the intention of terminating their agencies once they generated a profitable book of business for Nationwide.

Nationwide, however, said its objective was "to recruit agents and position them for success, not failure."

The 7th District Court decision "fundamentally alters the law of contracts, fraud and punitive damages in Ohio, affecting nearly every business transaction in the state," Nationwide said in its memorandum urging the state's top court to hear its appeal.

Lucarell, of Boardman, is the Republican challenger to county Treasurer Daniel R. Yemma, the incumbent Democrat, in the Nov. 8 general election.

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