Latest California Headlines
All the headlines from our California Topic Page, ordered by recency.
Report Examines 10-Year California Workers Comp Payment Trends
Oct 16 2023 // Average paid losses on California workers’ compensation lost-time claims fell immediately after legislative reforms of SB 863 took effect a decade ago, but then gradually increased up until the pandemic hit,...
Court Orders Subway Franchise Owners in California to Pay Workers Nearly $1M
Oct 16 2023 // A federal court ordered the owners of 14 Subway locations north of San Francisco to pay employees nearly $1 million in damages and back pay, and also to sell or shut their businesses, with any sale proceeds going to the...
California Jury Delivers $135M Verdict in Molestation Case Involving Middle School Teacher
Oct 13 2023 // A jury has delivered a $135 million verdict in a molestation case involving a middle school teacher, determining that negligence by a Southern California school district allowed the abuse of two students during the...
People Moves: Racunas Joins Alliant in California as SVP
Oct 13 2023 // Mark Racunas has joined Alliant Insurance Services, headquartered in Irvine, Calif., as senior vice president, Alliant Specialty. Based in Los Angeles, Calif., Racunas has more than 20 years of experience in the insurance...
PG&E to Pay $45M for Second-Largest California Wildfire
Oct 12 2023 // PG&E Corp. will pay a $45 million penalty for its role in starting the second-largest wildfire in California history under a settlement proposal issued by state regulators. The California utility giant agreed to the...
People Moves: Barnes Joins Alliant in California as EVP, Managing Director
Oct 12 2023 // Alliant Insurance Services, headquartered in Irvine, Calif., named Greg Barnes executive vice president, managing director, Alliant Specialty. Barnes is based in Los Angeles, Calif. He most recently served as president at...
California Business Owner and Office Manager Charged for Workers’ Comp Fraud
Oct 11 2023 // Bobby Levell Gilbert, Jr., 66 of Santa Ana, California, and owner of B & J Tree Service, has been charged with 96 felony counts for alleged wage theft, denial of workers’ compensation benefits to employees,...
SpaceX Paid Her $92K While Men Got $115K Suit in California Says
Oct 10 2023 // SpaceX was accused in a lawsuit of discrimination for allegedly paying women and minority employees less than their male and White co-workers. The proposed class action, which cites California’s Equal Pay Act, was...
$7M Settlement in Fatal Shooting by California Highway Patrol Officers
Oct 10 2023 // A $7 million settlement has been reached with the California Highway Patrol in the fatal shooting of a driver and wounding of his girlfriend during a 2020 traffic stop in Oakland, lawyers for the man’s family and the...
California Workers’ Comp Written Premium in 2022 Was Near Pre-Pandemic Level
Oct 4 2023 // Written premium in 2022 was 14% higher than 2021 and almost at the pre-pandemic level – an increase was driven by higher employee wage levels and the economic Recovery, according to a new report out on Wednesday from the...
Ex-Tesla Factory Worker Loses Bid in California for New Trial in Race Bias Case
Oct 4 2023 // A Black former factory worker for Tesla lost his bid on Wednesday for a third trial in his race discrimination lawsuit against the electric carmaker, after a California federal judge rejected his claims that the...
California Judge Rules Tesla Owners Must Arbitrate False Ad Claims Over Autopilot Feature
Oct 2 2023 // A California federal judge has ruled that a group of people who own cars made by Tesla Inc must pursue claims that the company misled the public about its autopilot features in individual arbitration rather than court. The...
Court Orders Subway Franchise Owners in California to Pay Workers Nearly $1M
Oct 2 2023 // A federal court ordered the owners of 14 Subway locations north of San Francisco to pay employees nearly $1 million in damages and back pay, and also to sell or shut their businesses, with any sale proceeds going to the...
California School District Paying $2.25M to Settle Suit Involving Teacher Who Had Student’s Baby
Oct 2 2023 // A Southern California school district will pay $2.25 million to settle the latest lawsuit involving a teacher who became pregnant by one of at least two students she was accused of sexually abusing. The settlement brings...
Kaiser to Pay $49M in California for Dumping Private Medical Records, Medical Waste
Oct 2 2023 // Kaiser Permanente has agreed to pay $49 million as part of a settlement with California prosecutors who say the health care giant illegally disposed of thousands of private medical records, hazardous materials and medical...
Business Moves
Oct 2 2023 // East McConkey Insurance & Benefits, Gallen Insurance Agency McConkey Insurance & Benefits, an independent insurance agency based in York, Pennsylvania, has acquired Gallen Insurance Agency, located in Berks...
People
Oct 2 2023 // National Charles Symington Charles Symington is the new president and chief executive of the Independent Insurance Agents & Brokers of America (the Big I), effective Sept. 1. In September 2022, Symington was promoted...
Agents, Insureds Said Surprised by Nationwide’s 10,000 Nonrenewals in NC
Sep 29 2023 // In February, Nationwide Mutual Insurance filed notice with the North Carolina Department of Insurance that it would non-renew some 10,525 homeowner policies in the state due in large part to the growing risk from climate...
Tesla Sued by US Agency Over Alleged Harassment of Black Factory Workers
Sep 29 2023 // A U.S. civil rights agency sued Tesla Inc. on Thursday, claiming the electric carmaker has tolerated severe harassment of Black employees at its flagship Fremont, California, assembly plant, in charges similar to cases...
A Hidden Climate Danger Threatens Coastal Communities With Toxic Chemicals
Sep 29 2023 // A little-known climate threat lurks under our feet: rising groundwater that could release toxic chemicals from more than 132,000 contaminated sites in coastal areas of the US. In a first of its kind study, researchers...
