More than 12 years after Hurricane Katrina ravaged the gulf coast, a fraud case involving State Farm Insurance will go before the U.S. Supreme Court. Justices have agreed to hear arguments in the Bloomington-based company's appeal of 758,000 dollars in damages.
A jury last year found State Farm defrauded the government by claiming that wind damage was caused by flooding and should be covered under a federal insurance program and not the company's policy.
Two former company contractors, claims adjusters Cori and Kerri Rigsby shared a 227,000 dollar portion of that under the False Claims Act which rewards those who report misconduct.
State Farm claimed the false claims portion of the suit should have been dumped because the lawyer for the Rigsbys violated court rules in leaking to reporters.
That lawyer was later disbarred for attempting to bribe a judge in a different case.
The case goes before the Supreme Court during the term that starts in October and ends in June of next year.
