Joel Bruckman
Sarah Abrams

As I have noted in prior post on this site (most recently here), the prospect of out-sized liabilities under the Illinois Biometric Information Privacy Act (BIPA) is a significant concern for companies and for their insurers alike. As discussed in the following guest post from Joel Bruckman, Partner, Freeborn & Peters, LLP, and Sarah Abrams, Head of Professional Liability Claims, Bowhead Specialty Underwriters, recent BIPA-related developments further underscore these concerns and raise important insurance issues as well. I would like to thank Joel and Sarah for allowing me to publish their article as a guest post on this site. I welcome guest post submissions from responsible authors on topics of interest to this blog’s readers. Please contact me directly if you would like to submit a guest post. Here is Joel and Sarah’s article.
Continue Reading Guest Post: Runaway BIPA Recoveries Impact Company Liability and Cyber Insurance

Peter Selvin

In an October 19, 2021 decision in Twin City Fire Insurance Co. v. Vonachen Services, Inc., the Northern District of Illinois, applying Illinois law, addressed key insurance coverage issues under the D&O and EPL coverage parts of a management liability insurance policy. In the following guest post, Peter Selvin reviews and analyzes the decision. Selvin is a partner with Los Angeles-based Ervin Cohen & Jessup. A version of this article previously was published in the LA Daily Journal. I would like to thank Peter for allowing me to publish his article on my site. I welcome guest post submissions from responsible authors on topics of interest to this blog’s readers. Please contact me directly if you would like to submit a guest post. Here is Peter’s article.
Continue Reading Guest Post: Court Addresses Biometric Claims and Insurance Issues

The insured vs. insured exclusion is a standard exclusion in most management liability insurance policies. The exclusion precludes coverage for claims brought by one insured against another. The IvI exclusions in most management liability insurance policies typically include a number of exceptions to the exclusion preserving coverage for claims that otherwise would be excluded. In a recent decision, a Texas intermediate appellate court found that the IvI exclusion in an investment management firm’s policy did not preclude coverage for an arbitration award because the underlying dispute arose out of an employment practices claim and therefore the dispute – including even the derivative claims the claimant asserted in the arbitration – came within the exclusion’s coverage carve-back for wrongful employment practices claims. As discussed below, the court’s opinion has a number of interesting features.
Continue Reading IvI Exclusion’s Carve-Back Preserves Coverage for Entire Claim

John M. Orr
Jully Y. Rojas

As many readers undoubtedly are aware, California’s governor recently signed into law legislation that would re-classify app-based workers as “employees” rather than as “independent contractors. As discussed below in a guest post written by John M. Orr and Jully Y. Rojas, these recent changes in California law could have national significance. The changes could have significant Employment Practices Liability Insurance implications as well. John is a Director in Willis Towers Watson’s FINEX (Financial, Executive & Professional Risk) division. Jully is a member of FINEX’s Claims & Legal Group. Both are resident in the firm’s San Francisco office. The authors wish to thank Talene Carter, Willis Towers Watson’s Employment Practices Liability product leader, for her insights and guidance. A version of this article previously appeared on the Willis Towers Watson site. I would like to thank John and Jully for their willingness to allow me to publish their article as a guest post on this site. I welcome guest post submissions from responsible authors in topics of interest to this site’s readers. Please contact me directly if you would like to submit a guest post. Here is John and Jully’s article.
Continue Reading Guest Post: Classifying Gig Economy Workers under Changing California Law

In the following guest post, Kelly Johnson of Hiscox USA and  James Talbert and Elan Kandel of Bailey Cavalieri took a look at a recent judicial decision addressing the question of whether a wage and hour claim represents an employment related misrepresentation within the meaning of an Employment Practices Liability Insurance policy. I would like to thank Kelly, James, and Elan for allowing me to publish their article as a guest post on this site. I welcome guest post submissions from responsible authors on topics of interest to this blog’s readers. Please contact me directly if you would like to submit a guest post. Here is Kelly, James and Elan’s article.  
Continue Reading Guest Post: Courts Reject Wage and Hour Claims as Employment-Related Misrepresentation Theory

Machua Millett

My recent post about wage and hour exposure and insurance triggered an email exchange with one of the blog’s readers, Machua Millett, who is the Chief Innovation Officer for the financial and professional unit (FINPRO) at Marsh.  The email exchange involved a lot of information that we both agreed might be of interest to all of the blog’s readers. Rather than try to turn the email correspondence into a blog post, we reconstructed the exchange in the form of a Q&A, which is set out below. I would like to thank Mach for reaching out to me in the first place, for his willingness to share ideas and information, and for his willingness to participate in the Q&A, below. My questions are set out in italics, Mach’s answers to each question follow. 
Continue Reading A Q&A on Wage & Hour Insurance