Seretti v. Superior Nat. Ins. Co

In Seretti v. Superior Nat. Ins. Co. (1999) 71 Cal.App.4th 920, the Court refused to permit shareholders to pierce the corporate veil in order to bring a bad faith lawsuit against their corporation's insurer. There, we stated: "Appellants' inability to maintain individual actions against their corporation's workers' compensation carrier does not represent a grave injustice. That individual shareholders will not be able to pursue bad faith insurance claims against the corporation's insurer does not allow the insurer to escape liability for improper conduct. The corporation itself, as named insured, can pursue its own rights, and the shareholders will profit indirectly." ( Id. at p. 931.) The Court said in Seretti: "Individuals are free to operate their business in their own names and accept all its debts and liabilities as their own. Having elected to avail themselves of the benefits of the corporate structure, . . . they cannot be heard to complain of their inability to take personal advantage of a right belonging to the corporation alone." (Ibid.)