Liberty Mutual Won’t Face Fraud, Punitive Damages Claims in Superstorm Sandy Case

TRENTON, N.J. — A New Jersey judge has trimmed consumer fraud and punitive damages claims from a Superstorm Sandy insurance action after ruling that they are ordinarily unavailable in disputes filed by individual plaintiffs over first-party coverage.

Judge Peter G. Sheridan of the U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey also said in the decision that without an alleged pattern of fraudulent activity on the part of the insurer or any evidence of a special relationship between the parties in the case, both claims must fail under New Jersey law. Additionally, Judge Sheridan dismissed a claim for breach …