A Westlake Village car dealership is suing Mercury Insurance Co., alleging the insurer defamed the auto business by concluding that some of the plaintiff’s mechanics deliberately damaged vehicles that were actually impaired by rodents chewing engine wiring.
Genesis of Westlake brought the Los Angeles Superior Court lawsuit on Wednesday, also alleging such causes of action as intentional and negligent interference with prospective economic advantage and both intentional and negligent misrepresentation. The suit also names as a defendant Orion Indemnity Co. and Shideh Engineering Inc. The dealership seeks more than $750,000 in compensatory damages and unspecified punitive damages.
A Mercury representative said the company does not comment on pending litigation.
The dealership has “an impeccable reputation” in which customers bring their vehicles from more than 100 miles away for repairs and services, according to the suit, which further alleges the companies “surreptitiously and unlawfully” deny viable rodent damage claims with fabricated justifications in order to save money.
“It is wildly outrageous to suggest that dealership and its technicians cut the wires and caused the damage to the vehicles when the vehicles literally could not be driven to dealership because of the rodent damage sustained to their respective wiring harnesses,” the suit states.
In July and August, three customers had engine problems that dealership mechanics concluded were caused by rodents, the suit states. In response, Mercury sent a representative from Shideh Engineering to inspect the damage, according to the suit.
In all three occasions, Shideh found that the customers’ vehicle issues were caused by someone at the dealership using tools rather than rodents chewing on wiring, the suit states.
“Indeed, it is the insurer defendants’ pattern and practice to use other insureds’ information to disparage a dealership when investigating claims, regardless of the truth,” the suit alleges.
During the inspection of one vehicle, Shideh “obviously tried to hide evidence of rodent damage (when he) tried to kick evidence of the rodent/animal damage under (the car) so that it couldn’t be seen by the cameras,” the suit states.
“By claiming … that rodents didn’t damage the vehicles … and that the damage was man-made, defendants impliedly and expressly communicated to dealership’s customers that dealership, by and through its personnel, has engaged in and is continuing to engage in what amounts to insurance fraud,” the suit alleges.