RAPID CITY, S.D. – In a retrial, a Pennington County jury returned a 42-million-dollar verdict against Liberty Mutual and UPS for reprehensible behavior for intentionally denying medical benefits they were ordered to be provided to an injured worker.
In 2004 and 2006, the Department of Labor and the Circuit Court had ordered Liberty Mutual and UPS to pay for medical benefits in 2009. The South Dakota Supreme Court affirmed those orders making them final judgments that Liberty Mutual and UPS must follow.
Liberty Mutual and UPS defied the orders and denied medical benefits to the injured worker without going through the Department to modify the order.
The same case, Johnson v. UPS and Liberty Mutual, was tried before a Pennington County jury in November of 2017. That jury returned a verdict for 45 million dollars. The case was appealed by Liberty Mutual. The South Dakota Supreme Court sent the case back to the Circuit Court for a retrial. The retrial was delayed because of Covid.
