Six weeks after Tampa-based Heritage Property & Casualty Insurance Co. filed a libel suit against a whistleblower claims adjuster, the adjuster’s lawyer has pushed back, arguing that the suit is an attempt to silence those who question insurers’ damage estimates.
“Jordan Lee acted courageously to shine a light on systemic misconduct. This lawsuit is an attack not just on him, but on every Floridian who relies on fair insurance practices after a disaster,” said attorney John Tolley, who represents independent adjuster Lee.
Lee raised the hackles of Heritage officials in September, when he appeared on the CBS News show, 60 Minutes. He reiterated claims he and other independent adjusters had made in 2022, that Heritage and several insurance carriers had deceptively altered the adjusters’ damage reports, greatly reducing the amount payable to homeowners.
“I handled 46 of them; 44 of them were changed,” Lee said in the 60 Minutes interview. Some estimates were reduced by 98%, the show stated.
In many libel suits, an aggrieved plaintiff will include the news outlet as a defendant. A Heritage spokesperson declined to answer Insurance Journal questions about why CBS News was not named in the Lee suit. But a Florida law professor said that the legal action is an effort to put the chill on Lee and other potential whistleblowers.
“The purpose of this lawsuit is not to shut up CBS, something Heritage really could not realistically hope to do. Instead, the purpose of the lawsuit is to cower the adjusters who work for it,” said Bob Jarvis, a law professor at Nova Southeastern University. “This lawsuit will bankrupt Jordan Lee, even if he wins. This will make future adjusters think twice before they publicly criticize or disagree with Heritage.”
Lee’s attorney agreed and suggested that the Heritage lawsuit marks a “significant escalation” in the dispute between the insurer and whistleblowers.
“This legal action is a blatant attempt to silence and punish not only Jordan but other potential whistleblowers for doing or attempting to do the right thing,” Tolley said in an emailed statement.
