The Joplin Globe, Joplin, MO

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November 26, 2009

Widow of late legislator wants insurance lawsuit reinstated

By Debby Woodin

dwoodin@joplinglobe.com

A case involving a late state legislator who was the son of former U.S. Rep. Gene Taylor is scheduled for oral arguments Wednesday in the Missouri Supreme Court.

Gay Taylor, the widow of Larry Gene Taylor and personal representative of the estate, is appealing a trial court’s decision to dismiss a lawsuit filed in Barry County Circuit Court. Named as defendants are Fire Insurance Exchange, Napoleon Roybal and Apex Environmental Consultants Inc.

According to court documents, a tornado ripped off part of the roof of the Taylors’ house in Shell Knob in 2001, and the storm also caused water damage inside the house because of the open roof.

The insurer, Napoleon Roybal, estimated repairs at $39,000.

Gay Taylor told the insurance company that her husband had a liver transplant, his immune system was weakened and he could not tolerate exposure to mold.

The insurance company hired Apex, which examined the house and reported to Roybal that there was mold in the house, but the Taylors weren’t told, the widow contends. Later, the Taylors learned of the mold and had the house demolished. The insurance company paid $98,000, the policy limit, as a result of the demolition.

In 2002, the couple filed a lawsuit alleging that Larry Taylor suffered personal injury from the mold. They contended that the insurance company and Apex committed fraud and conspiracy and were negligent by not telling the couple about the mold.

Larry Taylor died in 2005 while the lawsuit was pending in Barry County. After that, the insurance company asked the court to dismiss the lawsuit. The judge did so, ruling that Roybal and Apex were not required to tell the Taylors that their house contained harmful levels of mold.

In the appeal to the state’s high court, Gay Taylor contends that the trial court erroneously dismissed the lawsuit, and denied her due process and deprived her of a trial by jury.

The insurance company and Apex argue in court documents that the Taylors don’t have a claim, and that if they did, they were paid the limit of the policy.

The companies also contend that the Taylors took no action to find out the results of the Apex examination of their house.

Larry Taylor was elected to the Missouri House in 2002 and to the Missouri Senate in 2004, representing the 29th District. His father, the late Gene Taylor of Sarcoxie, served in the U.S. House from 1973 until 1989 and died in 1998.

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