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Thursday, March 28, 2024 | Back issues
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Man Blinded in Robbery Says Liberty Mutual Agents Told Him to Buy “Soap on a Rope”

CLEARWATER, FLA. (CN) - Liberty Mutual Insurance denied care and benefits to a man who was shot through both eyes in a holdup at a Radio Shack, called his appeals "frivolous," and told him to buy "soap on a rope" for showers rather than depend upon assistance, the man and his wife say in Pinellas County Court.

James Dolan says he lost both eyes in the Nov. 18, 2004 shooting at a Radio Shack in St. Petersburg, where he was a manager-trainee. The gunman killed two other people and then killed himself.

Dolan and his wife sued Liberty Mutual for intentional infliction of emotional distress. They also sued the claims adjuster and nursing care manager who handled his case.

The Dolans say the defendants' actions were "beyond all possible bounds of decency" and "atrocious and utterly intolerable in a civilized community."

Dolan says Liberty Mutual refused payment for claims, denied and delayed coverage for medically necessary services, inflicted severe emotional distress upon him and his wife due to its "greed and utter disregard of the plaintiff's well-being," and did it all to "save the company money."

Liberty Mutual advertises its services with the slogan, "Responsibility - What's Your Policy?"

The Dolans are represented by Jodi Leisure of Clearwater.

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