Lauren Scruggs is suing the insurer of the airplane that severely injured her. The fashion blogger and model, 23, lost her left hand and eye after being struck by an airplane propeller in December.Scruggs rejected a $200,000 settlement offer and sued the insurer of the plane, Courthouse News Service reports (via the Houston Chronicle.
The plane was insured by Aggressive Insurance Services and piloted by defendant Curt Richmond. The settlement offer was based on the definition of "passenger" in the insurance policy (the term is defined as "any person other than the pilot, who is is in the aircraft or getting in or out of it," according to Scruggs's complaint, reports the Courthouse News Service).
But Scruggs maintains that she was not a "passenger" as defined by the policy, thus rejecting the $200,000 policy sublimits. She claims that she "had completed her exit from the aircraft prior to the time of the incident and was physically located on the tarmac when the incident happened. Until struck by the propeller, she was not in physical contact with the aircraft after her exit."
Scruggs is seeking a declaratory judgment, asking the court to interpret the definition of a "passenger" in the policy.
Lauren's mother, Cheryl Scruggs, has blogged extensively about her daughter's physical and emotional recovery.