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Consequences of Greed

As you open this issue, Richard Scruggs' cell door is closing. He is getting acquainted inside a federal prison that will be his new home for the next five years.

By Eric Gilkey | Updated on July 28, 2008

As you open this issue, Richard Scruggs’ cell door is closing. He is getting acquainted inside a federal prison that will be his new home for the next five years. Scruggs was the lead attorney for policyholders affected by Hurricane Katrina and the most vocal critic of all things anti-concurrent causation, storm surge, and corporate greed (lest we forget tobacco, as well). But in late June 2008, he was brought down in stunning fashion, like so many others these days, for the very thing he purported to fight.

In many ways, Scruggs was convicted for acting in much the same immoral manner that he has accused insurers of doing. For those unfamiliar with his litigation, Scruggs alleged that insurance companies used doctored forensic and engineering reports to limit or eliminate claims paid after Katrina struck, a storm that is still very much alive in the newly built litigation wings of Big Insurance. He also alleged that insurers sought to shift claims to the National Flood Insurance Program by attributing losses to flood waters rather than hurricane winds, thereby limiting their own losses. It remains to be seen who will be handling these cases at press time.

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