A Douglas County jury ordered Farmers New World Life Insurance to pay $11.3 million in damages to an Omaha mother of 10 on October 16, 2026, ruling that the corporate carrier acted in bad faith when it refused to honor her late husband's $350,000 life insurance policy.
The verdict ended a bruising six-year courtroom fight.
District Court filings in Douglas County under case number CI 22-2057 show that Vaneza Ramos sued the insurer after it repudiated the death claim of her husband, Jose Gaitan, who died from COVID-19 on May 31, 2020. Gaitan was hospitalized with the virus just days after the couple welcomed their tenth child. Yet instead of paying the $350,000 death benefit meant to safeguard the family business and his children, Farmers New World Life Insurance blocked the claim in September 2020. The company offered a check of roughly $17,000—a mere refund of the premiums he had paid.
Gaitan bought the coverage in 2018 after a local Farmers Insurance agent urged him to move his existing life policy to the company. The policy carried monthly premiums of roughly $800, structured specifically as income replacement for his household. The couple ran an Omaha business while raising their blended family of 10 children.
When Ramos filed for the payout following Gaitan's death, the insurer pointed to medical history disclosures recorded on his original 2018 application to void the policy. But trial evidence dismantled that defense.
Attorneys Ross Pesek and Alejandra Ayotitla of Pesek Law proved in court that the insurance agent entered false answers on Gaitan's paperwork. Internal text records produced during the proceedings revealed that the agent had been explicitly informed about Gaitan's prior hospitalization for a heart condition well before the policy took effect. The agent wrote the wrong information anyway.
The litigation required two full jury trials to untangle the insurer's liability. The initial trial determined the insurer's formal contractual obligations. The second trial, concluded in October 2026, weighed the broader tort: whether Farmers acted in bad faith and inflicted severe collateral harm on the surviving family.
It's not based on the contract. It's based on the harm.
Ross Pesek, Lead Counsel, Pesek Law
The financial freeze shattered the family's stability. Ramos's mother moved into the house to help manage the 10 children, while one of Ramos's sons abandoned his own career goals to take the helm of the family business. Farmers Insurance fought the damages claims, arguing against the severity of the emotional and commercial devastation.
A promise to protect should not be broken. There is one moment that even Goliath fears. It's this moment. It's accountability because of a jury.
Ross Pesek, Lead Counsel, Pesek Law
| Case Parameter | Record Details |
|---|---|
| Court Docket | District Court of Douglas County, Case No. CI 22-2057 |
| Plaintiff | Vaneza Ramos (Widow of Jose Gaitan) |
| Defendant | Farmers New World Life Insurance |
| Original Death Benefit Claim | $350,000 |
| Insurer Settlement Offer | ~$17,000 (Refund of Premiums) |
| Final Jury Award | $11.3 Million (Bad-Faith Damages) |
With the bad-faith damages phase concluded in Douglas County District Court, the multimillion-dollar judgment now moves to formal entry by the bench, opening the statutory window for post-trial motions and appellate filing deadlines.
| Date of Verdict |
| October 16, 2026 |