# Aranda v. Insurance Co. of North America

> Texas Supreme Court · March 23, 1988 · 31 Tex. Sup. Ct. J. 279

URL: https://www.frixlaw.com/law-library/cases/9666349

## Case

- **Full name:** Miguel ARANDA, Petitioner, v. INSURANCE CO. OF NORTH AMERICA, Et Al., Respondents
- **Court:** Texas Supreme Court
- **Decided:** March 23, 1988
- **Citations:** 31 Tex. Sup. Ct. J. 279; 748 S.W.2d 210; 1988 Tex. LEXIS 25; 1988 WL 23626
- **Precedential status:** Published
- **Opinion:** Dissent by Wallace
- **Judges:** Spears, Phillips, Culver, Wallace, Gonzalez
- **Cited by:** 429 later opinions in the Frix Law Library

## Citator (automated)

- **Red flag:** Overruled on other grounds by Texas Mutual Insurance Co. v. Ruttiger, 55 Tex. Sup. Ct. J. 912 (2012).
- Negative treatments: 1
- Distinguished by: 0
- Full citator and citing cases: https://www.frixlaw.com/law-library/cases/9666349

## How later opinions describe it (automated extraction)

- holding that determining whether insurer had reasonable basis for denying or delaying payment of claim “requires an objective determination of whether a reasonable insurer under similar circumstances would have delayed or denied the claimant’s benefits”
- recognizing workers = compensation insurance carrier owes employee duty of good faith and fair dealing in processing compensation claims
- holding that the exclusivity provision of the Worker’s Compensation Act did not create a bar to a claim for the breach of the duty of good faith and fair dealing
- stating that carriers "will not be subject to liability for an erroneous denial of a claim” unless there was no reasonable basis for denial
- explaining that the general rule is that no claim for bad faith exists when an insurer denies a claim that is not covered

## Opinion text

WALLACE, Justice,
dissenting.
I respectfully dissent. I would not foreclose a suit for bad faith against a workers’ compensation insurer.
However, in this case, the insurers resorted to the Industrial Accident Board to resolve a legal dispute, i.e., which of the insurers were primarily liable for Aranda’s compensation. This is the procedure mandated by the Workers’ Compensation Act, thus, they should not be penalized for following the law.
GONZALEZ, J., joins in this dissent.

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Source: Frix Law Library, https://www.frixlaw.com/law-library/cases/9666349. Public record. Not legal advice.