It Figures
$2 Million Settlement paid by Wal-Mart in connection with the trampling death last year of a temporary worker at its Valley Stream, New York store. The man was crushed by stampeding shoppers on ‘Black Friday.’ As part of the deal, …
Court: Insurer Must Indemnify Contractor in Mass. ‘Sick Building’ Case
A federal court ruled that an insurer has a duty to defend and indemnify a flooring company which installed carpets and tiles in a Massachusetts office that were so fume-ridden, they made the building unusable. In a closely watched legal …
The Hartford Says It Will Not Sell P/C or Life Insurance Units
Hartford Financial Services Group Inc. said it plans to keep its U.S. property/casualty and life businesses, after winning approval last week to tap $3.4 billion of federal bailout funds. Chief Executive Ramani Ayer announced the decision in a memo to …
Mexican Bus Crash Victims’ Families Sue
The families of two South Texas middle school teachers who were among 11 people killed in Mexico when their bus was hit by a drunken driver’s tractor-trailer have filed a wrongful death lawsuit against the tour and bus companies. The …
Charges Dropped Against Aide to Former Oklahoma Insurance Commissioner
Oklahoma Attorney General Drew Edmondson has dropped five felony charges against an aide to former Insurance Commissioner Carroll Fisher. Fisher served prison time on convictions for embezzlement and perjury tied to an election campaign and later pleaded no contest to …
Indiana Teachers’ Insurance Trust Hopes to Unload Debt
Indiana’s largest teachers union is working to untangle its insurance trust from millions of dollars in liabilities while the state and the FBI investigate whether fund managers did something more than make risky investments. The Indiana State Teachers Association’s insurance …
Int’l. Maritime Organization Questions Arming Ships to Fight Pirates
Proposals to arm sailors on commercial shipping vessels to battle pirates could lead to an “arms race” on the high seas, a senior maritime official said on Monday. Some shipping companies want their crews to have arms or use mercenaries …
Ratings Recap: Allianz, Swiss Re (Notes), Everest Re (Ireland), Civic
Standard & Poor’s Ratings Services issued a statement that its ratings and outlook on Germany’s Allianz SE (AZSE), currently ‘AA’/Stable/’A-1+’, and various core operating entities “are unaffected by the group’s marginal net income reported for first-quarter 2009.” S&P said its …
Best Affirms American Modern and Subsidiaries ‘A+’ Ratings
A.M. Best Co. has affirmed the financial strength rating (FSR) of ‘A+’ (Superior) and issuer credit ratings (ICR) of “aa-” of Ohio-based American Modern Insurance Group and its P/C members. Best has also upgraded the FSR to ‘A+’ (Superior) from …
Most Katrina Deaths a Direct Result of Flooding, Study Finds
A new study has found that 67 percent of the fatalities in New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina hit in August 2005 resulted from direct impacts of the flooding that occurred when the levees collapsed, according to a report on Newswise.com. …
