A U.S. auto glass manufacturer will receive $14.4 million from its property insurer after winning an alleged breach-of-contract lawsuit.
U.S. District Judge Waverly Crenshaw Jr. of the Tennessee Middle District Court ruled in Carlex Glass America’s favor on Jan. 29 after an 11-day jury trial. The judgment comes almost two years after Carlex initially filed suit and nearly six years after the dispute began.
The March 3 Tornado that damaged the Carlex plant also devastated large sections of Nashville, Tennessee. Photo: NOAA NWS, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
Carlex’s initial lawsuit filing says the category F4 tornado that struck Nashville, Tennessee, on March 3, 2020, “demolished [Carlex’s facility there] along with a substantial number of buildings in the vicinity.” Carlex then allegedly submitted an initial $20 million claim to Sompo for the tornado damage, followed by additional claims totaling almost $66 million for property damage as well as lost revenue due to “business interruption.”
While Sompo paid almost $18 million toward Carlex’s initial damage claim, the glass manufacturer alleged the insurer “eventually rejected and/or denied” the subsequent claims.
“Sompo has failed and refused to make payment to Carlex for these claims totaling [almost $66 million] for property damage and related losses to the float line at the facility, extra expense associated with outside glass purchases and other customer contracts, loss of gross earnings in connection with lost sales of excess glass, pure extra expense representing outside purchases of materials to keep the line operating and professional fees that are payable in the event of a covered loss,” the initial lawsuit filing says.
Though Carlex pointed to several sections of its contract with Sompo to prove alleged breach of contract, the jury didn’t find all the evidence convincing. Court documents show the jury agreed that Carlex proved “by a preponderance of the evidence that [Sompo] breached its obligations… by failing to compensate Carlex for property damage to its float line equipment,” but not that Sompo breached the contract by “failing to compensate Carlex for time element losses.”
