In 2004, Frontier Insurance brought a lawsuit against Frontline Processing Corp., et al., based on a business relationship that went bad and based on Frontier’s allegations of unsound underwriting and alleged failure to pay premiums by defendants, Frontline and others. Frontier brought the lawsuit in Hennepin County District Court (Holahan, J.). Judge Holahan, in turn, appointed retired Judge Stephen Z. Lange as special master to preside over discovery disputes.
From 2004 to late 2009, it seems that defendants pushed plaintiff Frontier to elaborate on just what it was alleging. That is, defendants actively sought discovery on Frontier’s claims but, the Court concluded, Frontier, having brought the suit, was not cooperating in good faith in discovery.
Long story short, Frontier lost the case before any adjudication on the merits because the trial court concluded that Frontier’s conduct during discovery was simply unacceptable. Its discovery responses were inadequate. Frontier, the plaintiff, ends up tagged with over $175,000 of sanctions (defendants’ attorneys fees) and dismissal of its claims with prejudice.
Frontier lost on its appeal of the trial court’s decision and, last week, the Minnesota Supreme Court denied Frontier’s petition for review of the intermediate court’s decision. Frontier lost its suit against all defendants, not just the defendant who moved for the sanctions.