State Farm Can’t Topple Class After $34.3M Verdict

State Farm Life Insurance Co. failed to decertify a class of policy holders who won a $34.3 million jury verdict against it for overcharging.

The fact that 29 of the 24,000 class members were found not to be entitled to damages after the trial does not warrant decertification, the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Missouri said.

The proper course of action is to not award damages to those 29 class members, the court said.

Nor is it appropriate to overturn the jury verdict on grounds that 487 policy owners abandoned their claims before trial, the court said. ...