Articles by William Rabb

Rabb is Southeast Editor for Insurance Journal. He is a long-time newspaper man in the Deep South; also covered workers' comp insurance issues for a trade publication for a few years.

Widow Bound by Exclusive Remedy in Band-Saw Fatality, NC Court Finds

A longtime worker at a North Carolina furniture products company, described as a model employee, died in 2020 under somewhat mysterious circumstances. Co-workers described hearing a “strange noise” as Rodney Baker was cleaning around a running band saw machine. Baker …

West Virginians Fear Log Plant’s Potential Health Risks

Residents of a small West Virginia town less than two hours from the nation’s capital are worried that their health and quality of life in the Allegheny Mountains will be upended by a logging company’s plans to relocate a toxin-spewing …

New Risk Retention Group Requirements in Question as Fla. Session Winds Down

Risk retention groups may not be the sexiest of insurance topics, but they have gained new attention this week after the Florida House of Representatives approved a bill that would require strong financial ratings for the groups that operate in …

Tennessee Special Session on Gun Laws Won’t Come Until After July 4

Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee said Friday that a special lawmaking session dedicated to possible changes to the state’s gun laws in the wake of a deadly school shooting last month would likely have to take place after July 4. “I …

TN Volkswagen Plant Shut Down After Three Workers Hit by Vehicle Outside

Management shut down production Saturday at a Volkswagen plant in Tennessee after three workers were struck by a vehicle on a walkway just outside the plant, authorities said. One person was killed, a second was critically injured and a third …

Mississippi Tire Plant Partly Covered, Will Reopen in June After Tornado

A northeast Mississippi tire plant that was damaged by an April tornado is expected to restart production in June. Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co. said this week that it was likely to take several months for its Cooper Tire plant …

South Florida Jury Awards Woman $5.5M from Mold, Water Damage in Condo

A south Florida jury has awarded $5.5 million to a woman who sued her condominium association after years of water infiltration and mold that the woman blamed for the death of her longtime domestic partner in 2021. The Broward County …

Biden Declares Flooded Part of South Florida a Disaster Area

President Joe Biden declared Florida’s Broward County a disaster area Friday, two weeks after record-breaking rain left parts of Fort Lauderdale and its suburbs flooded. Gov. Ron DeSantis had requested the declaration earlier this week. The declaration makes Broward residents …

Florida Insureds Can’t Force Interest on Late Claims Payments, Courts Say

Two back-to-back federal court decisions may have dealt a lethal blow to recent proposed class actions that sought interest on property insurers’ late claims payments. But the rulings have left some insureds and their attorneys feeling that they’re seeing another …

45 Years Ago, the Deadliest Construction Accident in U.S. Killed 51

It was 45 years ago today that a huge scaffold system collapsed inside a cooling tower under construction at a West Virginia power plant, sending 51 workers tumbling to their deaths 170 feet below. Eleven members of one family were …