Magistrate Judge Finds Relator’s Request For Metadata From State Farm Premature

Mealey's (September 19, 2018, 12:50 PM EDT) -- GULFPORT, Miss. — Requests for metadata from State Farm Fire and Casualty Co.’s claims database and for spoliation sanctions sought by a plaintiff in a False Claims Act suit accusing the insurer of submitting false claims for flood damage following Hurricane Katrina were deemed premature by a federal magistrate judge in Mississippi on Sept. 18, after he found that the plaintiff’s request for additional information from the insurer should stem from the claims files it has produced (United States of America, ex rel. Cori Rigsby, et al. v. State Farm Fire and Casualty Co., No. 06cv433-HSO-RHW, S.D. Miss., 2018 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 158641)....