Employee Using Personal Vehicle Not Covered by Employer’s Insurer

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In 2009, Candace Wishkeno killed Darren Dinger in a highway motorcycle crash in Riley County, Kansas. Darren Dinger’s widow, Tammy Dinger (“Dinger”), won a civil judgment against Wishkeno and subsequently sued St. Paul Fire and Marine Insurance Co. (“St. Paul”). At issue is whether Wishkeno’s judgment was covered by an insurance policy issued by St. Paul and held by the Kickapoo Tribe in Kansas. In Tammy Dinger v. Candace Wishkeno v. St. Paul, No. 18-cv-08390, USDC (November 30, 2020) ruled on competing motions for Summary Judgment.

ZALMA OPINION

As I have stated multiple times: giving up a judgment in exchange for an assignment of a right to sue the tortfeasor’s insurer, without an absolutely clear interpretation by an insurance coverage expert that the insurer incorrectly denied coverage, is a waste of time and money. The $1.66 million judgment can be framed and hung on a wall but will never be collected.