Ailing Client Settles Suit Against Insurer

A terminally ill Santa Paula man who forced his life insurance company to admit that it forged documents in his case has quietly settled his lawsuit against Prudential Insurance.

Randy Clark filed suit against the company three years ago after Prudential rescinded his $94,000 life insurance policy and accused him of lying on his application by concealing his brain tumor from the firm.

Clark contended that his brain tumor was discovered after he bought the policy and that documents were forged and altered by company officials to make it appear that he knew about his illness before purchasing the policy.

In February, days before the jury trial was scheduled to start, Prudential attorneys conceded that some of Clark’s signatures on the policies were in fact probably forged. The company reinstated his policy after the disclosure, but Clark pushed on with his lawsuit.

Clark’s attorneys had promised to show during the trial that Prudential workers commonly forge and alter documents, as alleged in a federal class-action suit filed in New Jersey against the company.

Company officials succeeded last month in moving Clark’s suit out of Ventura County and into the federal suit, which meant Clark would have to wait months, if not years, for his case to be resolved. Doctors say he has less than a year to live.

Days later, Clark settled with Prudential. Terms of the settlement were kept confidential. Attorneys for both sides declined comment.

“I’m very happy,” Clark said Tuesday. “I hope that this means they will guard against these kind of activities by their employees. That’s what’s important.”