Monthly Archives: <span>August 2015</span>

California Court Hands Down $55M in Decision Against Three AIG Companies

An Alameda County, Calif., jury has awarded Pennsylvania-based Victaulic Co., $55.3 in damages against three AIG companies. The trial in Victaulic Co. v. American Home Assurance Co. et al., in Alameda County Superior Court spanned six weeks before Judge Frank …

Former Worker Sues Safeway in Oregon Over Leering Customer

A former employee of a Safeway in Oregon has filed a lawsuit against the grocery store chain saying she was forced to quit because a customer repeatedly stared at her breasts and made vulgar comments. The Oregonian reported that 44-year-old …

Court Decision May Impact Workers’ Comp Side Agreements in California

A recent court decision may have the potential to change the practice of side agreements in workers’ compensation policies California, a practice that some say often goes on under the regulatory radar. Zurich American Insurance Co. and American Zurich Insurance …

Report: California Workers’ Comp Premiums Growing at Double-Digit Rates

Workers’ compensation premiums in California continue to grow at double-digit rates, according to the Workers’ Compensation Insurance Rating Bureau. The WCIRB in July released its “State of the California Worker’s Compensation Report, which would perhaps be best described as a …

Washington City Sues Monsanto Over River Contamination

The city of Spokane is suing the international agrochemical giant Monsanto, which it blames for pollution in the Spokane River in Washington. The lawsuit, filed earlier this month in U.S. District Court in Spokane, alleges that the company sold chemicals …

California Law Agencies Get $34.9M to Fight Workers’ Comp Fraud

Insurance Commissioner Dave Jones has awarded $34.9 million in grants to 37 district attorney offices representing 42 counties in California to combat workers’ compensation insurance fraud. The grants are funded through employer assessments, and they support law enforcement efforts in …

South Carolina Approves Rate Changes to State Workers’ Comp Plan

South Carolina Insurance Director Raymond Farmer approved an overall revision of +1.9 percent to the state’s voluntary workers’ compensation policy loss costs and a decrease of .3 percent in the assigned risk rate level results for the state’s workers’ comp …

Mississippi Insurance Commissioner Chaney Wins Republican Nomination

Second-term incumbent Mike Chaney of Vicksburg, Miss., has won the Republican nomination for Mississippi Insurance Commissioner. He held off a challenge August 4 from John Mosley, a body shop owner from Clinton. Mosley campaigned, in part, by saying insurance companies …

Kentucky’s Revised Accident Victim Anti-Solicitation Law Under Fire, Again

A Kentucky law revision limiting the solicitation of accident victims within 30 days of a crash has gone into effect but is already being challenged in the state by multiple chiropractic groups that say the law is unconstitutional. The Kentucky …

West Virginia to See Decrease in Workers’ Comp Premiums

Gov. Earl Ray Tomblin says employers in the state will see an estimated $43 million reduction in workers’ compensation premiums in the coming year. Tomblin says employers have saved more than $323 million since the program was privatized in 2006. …