2018 BAD FAITH CASES: NO COMMON LAW BAD FAITH IN SURETY’S PAYING ON PERFORMANCE BOND AND SEEKING REIMBURSEMENT FROM CONTRACTOR/INDEMNITORS (Philadelphia Federal)
This case involves indemnification claims for payment made under a surety (performance) bond. Sureties are not subject to Pennsylvania’s Bad Faith Statute. The surety paid millions of dollars in connection with a construction contract, and sought reimbursement from the parties entering an indemnification agreement in connection with the bond issued.
The indemnity agreement required indemnification for payments made in good faith. If the payments were fraudulently made no indemnification would be required. The court found the contract itself did not set a good faith standard. Thus, it looked to the common law defining good faith conduct in analyzing the facts.
The indemnitors had to show an “improper motive” or “dishonest purpose” behind the surety payments. “Bad faith is not simply bad judgment or negligence, but rather it implies the conscious doing of a wrong because of dishonest purpose or moral obliquity.” It “is more than ‘a lack of diligence or negligence,’ and ‘even gross negligence cannot support a finding of bad faith.’”
The indemnitors put on no evidence of bad faith and summary judgment was entered for the surety.
