04/20/2026
“Retired U.S. Administrative Law Judge James R. Linehan, reflecting on a twist in his own State Farm story from the tidy den of his Edmond home, …
“As a judge, I thought, ‘What the hell? Did they just say what I thought they said?’” …
Linehan and his wife of 25 years, … had been State Farm customers for many years. …
Then, like many stories across Oklahoma, State Farm turned on the judge and his wife. …
An estimate from Red River Roofing in Edmond gave them the bad news: a much-needed new roof would cost $35,470.
At first, State Farm appeared to agree: they dispatched an adjustor who seemed young for the job, Linehan said, maybe 25, but the young man got on the roof and seemed to acknowledge the damage. He said he would send in his report.
The claim was denied; the Linehans were offered a fraction of what the total replacement would require.
Incredulous, the Linehans asked to see the report that was submitted by the adjustor. Their claim had now been passed along to State Farm Claim Specialist Jesse Spaulding, based not in Oklahoma, but Georgia. Spaulding denied the request; the Linehans asked why.
“State Farm working product,” Spaulding wrote in a terse email. “Can’t share things that show how we operate.”
That tweaked Linehan’s judicial sensibility, he said, because he knew the difference between work product and a claim report.
“We weren’t asking for internal operations,” Linehan said. “We’re not in litigation. No one is representing anybody. We just wanted to see the inspection report that denied our claim.”
State Farm started to ghost them, Linehan said. When they pushed back, the company turned downright nasty.
Not only would they deny their claim, State Farm now threatened to drop coverage completely if they didn’t get a new roof, Linehan said.
It got more ridiculous from there. …”
Written by: J.C. Hallman at [email protected]
"Oklahoma Watch is a nonprofit, nonpartisan news organization that covers public-policy issues facing the state."
Link to full Oklahoma Watch Article
A retired federal administrative law judge in Edmond found himself caught in State Farm's alleged hail claim scheme after the insurer denied his roof claim, refused to share the adjuster's report and threatened to cancel his coverage if he didn't pay for a new roof himself.
