Nick Nolte wants a judge to allow him to give a remote deposition in his lawsuit against Allstate Insurance Co. that involves damage at his Malibu property during the 2018 Woolsey Fire.
The 82-year-old actor and his wife, Clytie Lane, brought the lawsuit in Los Angeles Superior Court, alleging breach of contract, negligence and intentional infliction of emotional distress. On Monday, the couple's lawyers filed heavily redacted court papers with Judge Christopher Lui asking for a "protective order" permitting a virtual deposition with defense lawyers rather than in person.
"The protective order is necessary to protect Mr. Nolte from unwarranted annoyance, embarrassment, or oppression or undue burden or expense," Nolte's attorneys' court papers state. "Conducting Mr. Nolte's deposition via remote video-conferencing would not be inadequate or prejudice (Allstate) in any way."
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Discussions between the attorneys on both sides have not resulted in an agreement over how to conduct the deposition, Nolte's lawyers further state.
"As such, it seems readily apparent that defendant has ulterior motives to harass Mr. Nolte and inflict unwarranted annoyance, embarrassment, oppression or undue burden upon him by requiring an in-person deposition," the actor's attorneys further state in their court papers.
On Nov. 8, 2018, the couple's residential property and possessions were "either destroyed and/or substantially damaged" by the Woolsey Fire, the suit states. One of the residential structures, known as the Rock House, received substantial smoke and heat damage and several other structures were burned to the ground, the suit states.
"In addition, extraordinarily valuable and more importantly, deeply personal, film memorabilia that spanned the entire career of Mr. Nolte was destroyed," according to the suit filed in October 2020.
The fire caused $3 million in damage to the structure and contents of the house, but the home was not destroyed, firefighters said at the time.
After the fire, Allstate "unreasonably delayed the handling, adjustment and resolution of the claim, and have taken unreasonable coverage and claim positions," the suit alleges.
In its handling of the couple's claim, Allstate, "wrongfully put its interests ahead of" those of Nolte and Lane, the suits states.
The plaintiffs provided Allstate copes of the couple's consultants' reports and findings that the insurer disregarded and ignored, the suit alleges. Nolte and Lane also allege that Allstate misled them into the false belief that the insurer wanted to reach a settlement when the company's actual intent was to dissuade them from suing.
In their court papers, Allstate attorneys deny any liability on the part of the insurer. The lawyers also maintain that Nolte and his wife were negligent and that they "misrepresented, failed to disclose or concealed" information to the company. A hearing on the Nolte protective order is scheduled for March 14.
The Woolsey Fire in Los Angeles and Ventura counties burned nearly 100,000 acres. It killed three people, destroyed more than 1,640 structures and forced the evacuation of around 300,000 people.
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