Insurance
May 24, 2000
Holocaust Survivors File Insurance Claim in S.F.
In the setting of San Francisco's Holocaust Memorial in Lincoln Park on Wednesday, Holocaust survivors and some of their heirs, whose World War II-era insurance claims against an Italian insurer have been denied, will announce what is believed to be the state's first Holocaust-related class action .
The lawsuit, against Assicurazioni Generali S.P.A., will be filed in an effort to halt what the plaintiffs' attorneys say are random and unjustified denials of claims made by Holocaust victims and their relatives.
It is being filed in San Francisco Superior Court because the victims and survivors in the class reside there, according to Laura Shovlowsky of the firm Heller, Ehrman, White & McAuliffe. Shovlowsky said that the class action is the first of its kind in California but that an earlier class action on behalf of Holocaust survivors was filed in New York.
The family of Mor Stern brought the first individual suit against Generali in Los Angeles. That suit settled late last year . Stern v. Generali, BC185376.
Attorneys filing the class action say that, despite promising to pay claims to life insurance policy holders who were Holocaust victims, the insurer denies 75 percent of those claims, according to the plaintiffs' attorneys.
Assicurazioni Generali has cited various reasons for not paying the claims, according to attorneys representing the victims and their families, claiming, for instance, that death benefits were paid to the Nazis, that claimants could not provide death certificates and that their premium payments stopped while they were imprisoned in Nazi death camps.
Attorneys for Assicurazioni Generali could not be reached Monday. However, in the past, a company spokesperson has maintained that, after World War II, the communists took over its office, in what was then Czechoslovakia, and that the insurer is no longer liable for the policies.
Holocaust survivors and their heirs have been battling for more than 50 years to force European insurance companies to honor death benefits owed under policies sold to clients who later became Holocaust victims.
Several of the plaintiffs are expected to attend the 10:30 a.m. news conference at the Holocaust Memorial.
The case will be filed by Heller, Ehrman, White & McAuliffe and Bet Tzedek, a Los Angeles public interest law firm.
Anne La Jeunesse
For reprint rights or to order a copy of your photo:
Email
jeremy@reprintpros.com
for prices.
Direct dial: 949-702-5390
Send a letter to the editor:
Email: letters@dailyjournal.com