FOLLOW US

In the case of Amanda West v. Metropolitan Life Insurance Co., in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Washington, the insurance giant is accused of wrongly refusing to pay death benefits to the widow of a man killed by law enforcement.

The Plaintiff is the widow of a man that was shot and killed by police in Grays Harbor County in Washington State. According to the complaint, the plaintiff alleges that MetLife relied on the county prosecutor's press release and a “vague” policy exclusion which the insurer used to deny coverage when an insured party’s death is related to the commission of a felony.

Case Background

The Plaintiff’s husband, Patrick Easton West, age 42 at the time of death, was killed by police in April 2019, when police were dispatched to his residence based on a call of possible domestic violence and assault. However, the plaintiff asserts that her husband never committed a crime; she says he was merely experiencing a mental health crisis, according to the complaint.

The deceased was a covered dependent under the plaintiff’s term life and accidental death policy, and in August of 2019, the plaintiff applied for benefits, but MetLife denied her claim, according to the suit.

The complaint says that the plaintiff filed an internal appeal of the insurer’s denial, but again her claim was denied, but this time the carrier seemed to rely only on the county prosecutor's press release regarding the circumstances surrounding the shooting.

The plaintiff, Amanda West is represented by attorney Tim Ford of MacDonald Hoague & Bayless, in the complaint, he argues that MetLife denied coverage because it said the deceased attacked law enforcement before he was killed, which constitutes a felony offense.

The suit alleges, MetLife said that according to its exclusion policy, when a person's death is "caused or contributed to by committing or attempting to commit a felony," coverage is denied.

The complaint also accuses the carrier of failing to conduct its own investigation into the facts before reaching its conclusion.

The complaint says "If MetLife had conducted an independent investigation, it would have shown that Patrick West was not committing or attempting to commit a felony or any crime when he was killed."

In January 2021, Amanda West and her husband's parents filed a lawsuit against the cities of Montesano, Aberdeen, and Hoquiam, accusing law enforcement and the Crisis Response Unit of unnecessarily escalating the situation when they charged into the home when Patrick was experiencing a mental health crisis.

According to Amanda west, when police arrived Patrick West had refused to speak to mental health professionals and was holding a metal object from his workshop.

Patrick’s parents were also at his residence when he was shot, according to the complaint. They too allege the police "unreasonably escalated the encounter" when they tried to force their way into Patrick’s home.

At some point police fired at Patrick hitting him in the back and arm; he was rushed to the hospital but later died from his injuries.

In December 2021, the West family and the three cities cited in the suit reached a $3 million dollar settlement to resolve the case.

However, in the instant case, the plaintiff says that the policy exclusion asserted by MetLife was "vague, deceptive, and void as contrary to the public policy of the state of Washington."

The plaintiff further alleges the courier breached its contractual and fiduciary obligations by failing to independently investigate the claim and instead relied on a public release statement from a biased party.

The lawsuit also includes a claim for violations of the Washington Consumer Protection Act and the Washington Insurance Fair Conduct Act, in addition to breach of contract and bad faith handling of the plaintiff’s claim.

Relief Requested

The Plaintiff is seeking $50,000 in benefits under the existing policy, plus treble damages, attorney fees, and costs.