New Orleans Retailer Wins Katrina Appeal

NEW ORLEANS — A federal appeals court here has upheld a $20 million insurance award to Marc Robert 2nd, the owner of Robert's Fresh Markets here, after an insurance company failed to pay him the full amount for severe wind damage the stores sustained during Hurricane Katrina in 2005.

The court also ordered United Fire & Casualty Insurance Co. to pay Robert an additional sum of nearly $1 million in "bad faith" penalties. According to Philip Franco, Robert's attorney, the retailer plans to use the money to reopen one of his shuttered stores.

Insurers originally estimated Robert's losses at $19 million but paid him only $3 million before running out of money, Franco told SN. A jury last May said Robert was entitled to the additional $16 million, plus $4 million in penalties. The appeals court subsequently ruled he was entitled to additional penalties of close to $1 million.

According to Franco, the insurance company has already posted the money with the court.

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