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Page 2 of 2 Judge throws it out On June 25, 2007, the last day to respond, Infinity filed a “Response and No Opposition to Defendant’s Motion for Summary Judgment” with the court. Their response acknowledged that Ferrante’s attorney was correct in asking for Summary Judgment. Summary Judgment was granted for the Ferrantes, but Infinity is fighting the Ferrante’s demand to be reimbursed for legal fees and court costs. What shop owners can learn There are lessons from the Ferrantes’ painful experience. First, the best way a shop owner can protect himself from any accusations of unethical conduct is to be totally honest and fair in his business dealings with everyone, which the Ferrantes had been. Obviously, refusing to perform repairs for either “claimants” or “insureds” on vehicles whose costs are being covered by questionable insurers would lessen the risk of being involved in unethical, unfair accusations made by unethical insurers. Many ethical shops routinely do refuse to repair vehicles that are covered by certain insurers they feel are untrustworthy. Chris Ferrante elaborates, “What you can do, and what has made our case for us, is to keep the most meticulous records possible, document everything, cross reference everything. For example, on your final invoice, list every detail, including license plate number, mileage in, class or source of the job, insurance involved, payment type (check, direct deposit, etc.), claim number and so forth. Doing this in conjunction with a bookkeeping system such as Quickbooks Pro that allows you to search your records by any of those fields to recover data, allowed us to determine, within a matter of minutes, that we had never done any of the jobs that Infinity had alleged we did, in their suit. “It also allowed us to document our exact charges on the three jobs we had done that involved that insurer over a three-year period. We were able to immediately prove what our charges were, and that they were not in question. In fact, records indicated we have had an Infinity claims adjuster bring her personal vehicle to Gilbert Collision for repair. And the new owners confirm that this same Infinity adjuster brought her vehicle in again for more repairs… after they bought the shop. One of Infinity’s adjusters was our satisfied customer! That’s how ridiculous this lawsuit is. “Document everything. Write notes on every phone call, or record them on tape if this is allowed in your state. This is especially important when past experience tells you the insurer in question is not ethical. Keep historical records that enable you to go back and prove that a company has a history of unethical ‘pattern and practice.’ “And never count on an insurer to cover you if a similar situation happens to you. Our Garage Keepers policy, which was a great policy with Universal Underwriters, would have covered our defense even after the shop had been sold, if we had actually done that of which we were accused. However, since we never did it, it was not considered an ‘occurrence’ under the policy language, so our defense was not covered. Our personal liability Insurance through our State Farm Homeowners policy won’t cover us because the accusations were made as a result of business activity. Our Liability Umbrella Policy doesn’t kick in unless either our Homeowners or Garage Keepers first accepts liability. You really don’t want to print my thoughts on insurance companies in general.” Lawsuit’s impact on the Ferrantes “As far as the impact upon our lives and businesses is concerned,” continued Ferrante, “since May 18 of this year, we have already spent more on legal fees than most people earn in a year. We have drawn on the credit line on our home, and made other financial changes to cover those costs, all of which will sometime soon have to be repaid. “Our plan, after selling the shop, was to continue to work in our consulting businesses until social security retirement age. But that’s not happening right now! My business, Control Consultants, LLC, is the current incarnation of a consulting business I have had for years, operating in two states and overseas. I expected to get busy immediately with consulting work for plaintiff’s attorneys here in Arizona. But as a result of this lawsuit against us, I have had a total of six hours of work in as many weeks. “All my potential clients are being very cordial, but since that suit was filed, no one is hiring me. After all, how would it look for an attorney to tell his client that their expert witness has been publicly accused in the papers and on the internet of fraud? Whether I like it or not, Infinity has forced me into retirement. And my wife is a Certified Public Accountant: Under their ethical guidelines, any accusation of impropriety, even the false appearance of impropriety, can end a career. “So, always keep in mind in all your dealings with insurers and customers that you don’t have to be guilty to be hanged!” |
he reporter …with a deadline to meet damages the Ferrantes’ reputations. It is important to note that the initial lawsuit brought against the Ferrantes by the insurer never alleged that the Ferrantes committed fraud; it simply demanded repayment of fees which the insurer deemed excessive. But when Arizona’s East Valley Tribune got wind of the case, their reporter ran a front page article accusing the Ferrantes of fraud, claiming among other things and in so many words that the Ferrantes had defrauded customers by conspiring to have police towing contractors bring cars to the shop against the owners’ wishes. The huge irony in this is that Chris Ferrante has been a witness for the sheriff in a major investigation into bid rigging and other illegal practices by towing companies. In fact, there was no love lost between Ferrante and several towing contractors who Ferrante alleges actively steered customers away from Gilbert Collision when the he owned the shop. States Chris Ferrante, “The Tribune reporter never called me for comment. He apparently did call Gilbert Collision Center and was told that I no longer owned the shop, which should have given him a hint. But he never called me, even though my number is listed in the phone book. Neither did he check public records. When I confronted him on the morning after his front page article, he said, ‘I didn’t know how to reach you, and I had a deadline to meet.’ For lack of a five-minute phone call, and with the zest for headlines, he chose to take a path that would lead to destroying my, and my wife’s, unblemished reputations.” Ferrantes file defamation suit Gilbert Collision Center, Inc., and the Ferrantes then filed a four-count lawsuit against the East Valley Tribune and its owners for Defamation, Invasion of Privacy, Tortious Interference, and Declaratory Relief. Their suit claimed that the Tribune did not accurately report the news, rather choosing to create the sensational headlines alleging fraud, which the original lawsuit never mentioned (neither did it contain the elements of fraud). The suit also claimed that the newspaper irreparably damaged the previously unblemished reputations of Chris, a former Federal Agent in the U.S. Department of State, former police officer, and International Security Consultant, to name a few of the many prestigious positions he has held over the years. Chris holds an earned Bachelor of Science degree in Economics, and a Master of Science degree in Management, and is a past President and Board Member of the Arizona Collision Craftsman Association (ACCA). He was a member of the Coalition for Collision Repair Excellence, held positions in the Association of Certified Fraud Examiners, the International Association of Bomb Technicians and Investigators, and the American Society for Industrial Security. He has held security clearances in the U.S. Department of State and U.S. Department of Energy, and is a decorated former Federal Agent for the U.S. Department of State. His wife, Carol, a Certified Public Accountant, was a manager for an international accounting firm, and was the former owner of two CPA firms. She was an instructor for the Florida Institute of Certified Public Accountants, and has taught Continuing Professional Education classes to others in her profession. This husband and wife are business professionals. Only in America Ferrante continues, “What is of interest here is that any insurance company represented by a careless attorney can make utterly baseless allegations, not supported by any regulation or state law, and ruin the lives, reputations and businesses of several business owners in both towing and collision repair, by simply filing a lawsuit and somehow allowing it to get into the hands of a sensationalist newspaper reporter, forcing us to spend thousands on legal support when we are completely innocent and don’t even belong in the law suit, if in fact the suit has any merit at all. Infinity, in attempting to get a judge to rule on just what is or is not a fair amount for towing, storage, and admin fees, a subject that the Arizona legislature has chosen not to regulate, has initiated an avalanche of problems that will entangle many others besides the insurer, newspaper, and ourselves. “Other newspapers and internet sources, again not checking the accuracy of what Infinity and the Tribune purported, then published articles that further spread the lies. We will be filing more lawsuits against these entities before this is over.” Dick Strom, Modern Collision Rebuild, 9270 Miller Road, NE, Bainbridge Island, Washington 98110; (206) 842-3621; e-mail:
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