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A Washington State appeals court has removed about $47 million in punitive and additional statutory damages awarded against Nationwide Affinity Insurance Company. However, it upheld key findings that the insurer acted in bad faith when handling a tragic car crash in 2017. The decision by Division III of the Washington Court of Appeals, published on 10 November 2026, is the latest development in a long-running legal case. The case involved Meseret Shiferaw, whose vehicle was hit by a semi-truck during a trip to Alberta, Canada, in 2017.
The case began after a crash that killed three young children and seriously injured their parents. All three of her children died in the crash. Shiferaw suffered a broken back, while her husband, Solomon Agere, broke his neck.
Under the rules for accidents outside the state, the policy provided up to $200,000 in liability coverage. In early 2020, the Spokane County Superior Court ordered Nationwide to pay Agere the full $200,000 liability limit. The process found that Agere’s third-party damages were worth more than $17 million.
Because the insurer did not agree to settle the claims between family members immediately, Agere took legal action against his wife. Neither side has publicly confirmed whether it plans to ask the Washington Supreme Court to review the decision.
Lawyers representing Shiferaw, including the Luvera Law Firm, had previously said that money recovered through the case would help support an educational foundation. After the crash, the family faced complicated legal and insurance disputes over their coverage. Shiferaw had a personal car insurance policy with Nationwide. Nationwide initially refused to pay the full policy limit directly to Agere unless he agreed to a complete release of all possible third-party claims. These included potential claims against the truck driver involved in the crash. He wanted to establish her legal responsibility and secure payment from the insurance policy. Agere and Shiferaw later went through arbitration. Shiferaw then filed her own claims against Nationwide. She argued that the insurer had acted in bad faith, failed in its duty to handle the claims properly, and broken Washington State insurance rules. it kept the jury’s main finding that Nationwide acted in bad faith and was negligent under common law Although the appeals court removed the punitive damages and statutory increases. The court also upheld the main compensation awarded to Shiferaw for the insurer’s bad faith and negligence. This means the family will still receive millions of dollars in compensation. The family created the foundation in memory of their three children. The appeals court’s decision reduces the judgment to the main compensation amount while rejecting Shiferaw’s separate appeal for an injunction under the Consumer Protection Act.
The trial court awarded Shiferaw $27.136 million in compensation. This included $136,000 for financial losses and $27 million for emotional and other non-financial harm. This increased the total amount Nationwide was ordered to pay to more than $74 million.
Because nationwide is based in that state, it decided that Ohio law could be used to award punitive damages. During the trial at Spokane County Superior Court, a jury reached a large verdict against Nationwide. It found that the insurer had acted in bad faith and had been negligent when handling the claims. The trial court also used legal rules about which state’s laws should apply. This resulted in an additional punitive damages award. The court also applied a legal multiplier under Washington’s Insurance Fair Conduct Act (IFCA). Nationwide appealed the decision. The company challenged the IFCA claim, the use of Ohio law to award punitive damages for a case outside the state, and the overall amount of damages.