Anderson forwarded Canipe's e-mail to ABRN and to Eversman, who forwarded it to the Ohio attorney general's office. "It is important for Ohio's attorney general to understand that an Ohio company (Nationwide is based in Columbus, Ohio) is engaged in this type of activity," she says. At press time she had not heard back from the office of Ohio's top lawmaker.

Eversman said it is unusual for an e-mail that clearly instructs another employee to engage in illegal activity to become public.

"You almost never have evidence like this," she says. "There is a good deal of fraud and anti-trust activities that take place in the industry that receives no scrutiny because it is done behind the scenes." She said people who are aware of it are not likely to expose it because whistleblowers often lose their jobs and are subject to other forms of persecution.

"It's disappointing to see that kind of animosity toward a leader in our industry," Petursson says. "I'm not a lawyer, so I couldn't say if it is legal or illegal."

The Virginia Bureau of Insurance said it is not in the position of rendering decisions on legal or illegal behavior.

"The bureau would investigate based on the complaint of the insured," says Ken Schrad, director of information resources, media relations.

Anderson said Nationwide's payment for the repairs to the Audi did not cover the entire bill he submitted to the insurer and the remainder of the bill is "under dispute." At press time he had not passed along the unpaid portion of bill to the owner of the Audi.

When Nationwide's corporate office was asked if it has standard operating procedures for resolving differences in estimates with collision repair facilities, a spokesperson responded with an e-mail that said, "Our policy is to settle all claims fairly and quickly, according to the terms of the policies involved, and in accordance with state insurance laws and regulations. Nationwide is always willing to work with the customer to resolve their concerns regarding a claim. Nationwide will re-inspect and re-estimate a claim if there is a policyholder concern over the value of the estimate."

When asked if Canipe's instructions to Tschann were consistent with Nationwide's standard operating procedures, the spokesperson said "privacy restrictions" prohibit the company from commenting on specific claims. The same reason was given for not responding to attorney Eversman's charge that Canipe's e-mail promoted an illegal activity.

Canipe did not return several phone calls asking for a comment. Shortly after he realized his e-mail went to Anderson, he sent a follow-up e-mail to Anderson that said, "I am very sorry about the e-mail. I thought that I was writing Ed back and I was having a bad day. ... I think if you ask any of the shop owners that I deal with all the time I am a very professional person and handle everything in a professional manner. I will be glad to meet with you and discuss my comments and the remarks I made."