In the court case, Zenith Insurance Co. v. Glasbern, Inc., the judge found Glasbern and its owner, Albert Granger, violated the Pennsylvania Insurance Fraud Act, by failing to disclose the farming operations of Glasbern, Inc. to the insurance company.
In 2010, Zenith renewed a workers compensation insurance policy on Glasbern. On June 11, 2010, Jason Angstadt, an employee of Glasbern sustained serious injuries when he was struck by a 1,200-pound cow from Glasbern’s herd of Devon cattle. As a result of the injuries, Angstadt is now a paraplegic.
Zenith sought reimbursement from Glasbern and Granger for the money it paid and for all future payments to Angstadt because it claimed that Glasbern and Granger committed fraud by not disclosing the farm operations on the company’s workers compensation policy.
Judgment favored Zenith in the amount of $1.07 million, which Zenith had paid for Angstadt’s medical expenses. The judgment declared that Glasbern and Granger are liable to Zenith for all reasonable medical and other payments made to or on behalf of Angstadt after June 24, 2013 and continuing during his lifetime.
The judge wrote in his opinion that employers attempt to avoid some of the workers compensation premiums they are obligated to pay by not disclosing all of their operations or the categories of employees working for the employer-insured. In this case, the employer – Glasbern and Granger – lied to the insurer by not disclosing the existence of the farming operation. By doing so, they saved a few thousand dollars in premium payments, but the fraud was discovered and the company and owner will have to pay Zenith more than $1 million and reimburse it for each payment it must make in the future to Angstadt.
