Federal Judge Rejects Insurer’s Motion to Bifurcate Moody Claims

This office represents Brook Gebremedhin, whose home suffered a burst pipe during the historic winter freeze in January 2024. Plaintiff filed suit against American Family Insurance Company in July 2024, alleging claims for breach of contract and violation of O.R.S. 746.230.  American Family assigned Chock Barhoum to defend, and exercised its right to remove the case to federal court.

Mischaracterizing plaintiffs’ O.R.S. 746.230 negligence claim as a “bad faith” claim, American Family filed a motion to bifurcate plaintiff’s claims. On August 29, 2025, Judge Stacie Beckerman issued a minute order rejecting American Family’s motion as follows:

"Having considered the relevant factors (see Clark v. I.R.S., 772 F. Supp. 2d 1265, 1269 (9th Cir. 2009); see also FED. R. CIV. P. 42(b)), the Court finds that Defendant has failed to meet its burden of demonstrating that bifurcating Plaintiff's claims for discovery or trial would 'promote judicial economy [or] avoid inconvenience or prejudice to the parties." Clark, 772 F. Supp. 2d at 1269 ("Bifurcation... is the exception rather than the rule of normal trial procedure[.]') (citations omitted)."