Mid-Continent May Not Litigate Bad Faith Claim, Judge Rules

TULSA, Okla. - Mid-Continent Casualty Co. may not amend its complaint against General Reinsurance Corp. to add a bad faith claim because the arbitration agreements in the two reinsurance contracts at issue require that the claim be arbitrated, an Oklahoma federal judge has ruled. Mid-Continent Casualty Co. v. General Reinsurance Corp., No. 06-0475 (N.D. Okla.).

Chief Judge Claire V. Eagan of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Oklahoma ruled Aug. 18 that the broad language of the arbitration agreements encompasses the bad faith claim.

GenRe and Mid-Continent executed two reinsurance contracts, the first in 1992 and the …