HONOLULU (CN) - A GEICO attorney claims the insurer defamed and harassed him for informing policyholders of their legal rights, and unconstitutionally monitored his attorney-client communication with clients.
Stephen Keawe Roy sued GEICO, two of its agents and a claims manager in Oahu First Circuit Court. Roy's wife also is a plaintiff.
Roy claims the defendants get bonuses from the unethical program, which has been "instituted by GEICO in other locations throughout the U.S. and is extremely profitable."
He claims GEICO policies conflict with his legal ethics and judgment, and that the company sends dishonest letters to customers under his letterhead without his permission.
Roy has been managing attorney for GEICO's Honolulu law office and has been representing GEICO customers since 1996, he says in the complaint.
It states: "Plaintiffs bring this action as a result of defendants' harassment, retaliation and coercion affecting the terms and conditions of employment that directly and proximately resulted from Mr. Roy's reports and attempts to change GEICO's policy and practice of: (1) prohibiting him from informing his clients, GEICO's insureds, that GEICO would indemnify them in excess of policy limits if they were subjected to an excess judgment or award after a policy limits demand had been rejected; and (2) prohibiting him from following Hawaii's statutory mandates to enter into binding arbitration at the request of his clients. Mr. Roy also questioned GEICO's practice of monitoring and/or recording his confidential attorney-client communications with GEICO's insureds. Finally, Mr. Roy reported what he reasonably believed to be unlawful collections practices by GEICO, instituted by [defendant BEICO agent] Mr. [Timothy] Dayton, which violated the Fair Debt Collections Practices Act 15 U.S.C. § 1692 (hereafter 'FDCPA') and its Hawai'i analogue, Haw. Rev. Stat. § 480D-3, that 'included, without limitation, sending letters on Mr. Roy's letterhead to GEICO's insureds, without his permission and without his review of their files, falsely stating the insureds owed premiums and that if they did not pay the amount reflected in their letter, GEICO would seek legal redress through the court system and recover treble damages, along with, attorneys' fees and other charges to which GEICO was not entitled.
"After Mr. Roy reported these unethical and unlawful policies and practices, he was subjected to harassment, retaliation and coercion by GEICO and the individual defendants. The harassment, retaliation and coercion by GEICO and the individual defendants included, without limitation, being placed on two performance 'improvement' plans ('PIP's), denying Mr. Roy pay he would have received, but for defendants' conduct and being forced to work under terms and conditions that jeopardized Mr. Roy's license to practice law and interfered with his ethical obligations, independent judgment and attorney-client relationships."
Roy claims that GEICO, Dayton and defendant GEICO agent Richard Dwyer began retaliating, harassing and coercing him in July 2012 to prevent him from blowing the whistle on GEICO. GEICO agent John Dornan also is named as a defendant.
The complaint states: "Mr. Dornan frequently approaches the claims adjusters to ask if they have any cases with a select group of plaintiffs' attorneys. He will take such files involving these plaintiffs' attorneys from the adjusters and these cases settle without the protracted disputes in which GEICO usually engages."
Roy claims that GEICO deters adjusters from settling claims, specifically in cases where GEICO "refused to pay a policy limit demand," to encourage insureds to go to jury trial.