Latest California Headlines
All the headlines from our California Topic Page, ordered by recency.
California May Exit Federal Flood Program, According to Reports
Mar 21 2017 // After learning a lesson from what could have been the largest dam disaster U.S. history, California officials are reported to be considering withdrawing from the National Flood Insurance Program. Capital Public Radio is...
California Workers Comp Medical Review Volume Hit a Record in 2016
Mar 21 2017 // The California workers’ compensation independent medical review process used to resolve medical disputes found that in 2016 IMR physicians once again upheld about 90 percent of utilization review physician’s...
Suit Filed in California Says Kona Co. Dupes Those Seeking Hawaii-Made Beer
Mar 20 2017 // A class-action lawsuit says Kona Brewing Co. leads customers to believe they are buying made-in-Hawaii beer. The lawsuit filed in California is against Craft Brew Alliance, which advertises, markets, distributes and sells...
People – West
Mar 20 2017 // Reno, Nev.-based LP Insurance Services Inc. has added Steve Peitz, Carlos Ruiz and Loren Pierce as risk management consultants. Peitz was previously a safety specialist at Panasonic Energy North America and an assistant...
CEOs of California Sewing Firms Sentenced for Workers’ Comp Fraud
Mar 17 2017 // Sisters who are CEOs of sewing companies that are subcontracted by True Religion jeans have been sentenced for conspiring with their accountant to hide tens of millions in payroll to avoid paying for workers’...
California Judge Approves $27M Driver Settlement in Lyft Lawsuit
Mar 17 2017 // A U.S. judge has given final approval to a settlement agreement in a class-action lawsuit against Lyft Inc., ending a legal case that challenged the independent contractor status of the ride-hailing service’s...
California Lawmakers Grapple with Fatal Oakland Warehouse Fire
Mar 16 2017 // California state lawmakers said they are grappling with a growing public safety problem in cities where financially struggling artists are illegally converting warehouses into housing and entertainment venues. The Senate...
Owner of Hotel Cleaning Firm in California Pleads Guilty to Workers’ Comp Fraud
Mar 15 2017 // Hyok Kwon, owner of Good Neighbor Services, a janitorial company that provided services to some of San Diego’s most exclusive hotels and resorts, has pleaded yesterday to seven felonies, including premium and...
Panel Hands Small Victory to California Utilities in Nuke Plant Suit
Mar 15 2017 // An arbitration panel has awarded California utilities $125 million in a lawsuit claiming that Mitsubishi Heavy Industries supplied faulty steam generators that helped lead to the closure of the San Onofre nuclear...
Hub Names Ryan Employee Benefits Market Leader in Northern California
Mar 14 2017 // Hub California has named John Martin Ryan employee benefits market leader for Northern California. Ryan is responsible for managing and overseeing Northern California employee benefit producers, recruiting employee...
Report: High Volume, Low Costs For Comp Claims in Northernmost California
Mar 13 2017 // California’s northern most counties accounted for 1.1 percent of the state’s workforce but 3.3 percent of the job injury claims, according to a report from the California Workers’ Compensation...
Uber Settlement to Give California Drivers $1 Each Does Not Win Over Judge
Mar 13 2017 // Uber Technologies Inc. failed to persuade a judge to approve a settlement offering 1.6 million California drivers an average of $1.08 each to dispense with alleged labor-code violations that their lawyer earlier claimed...
Uber Settlement with Drivers Ignites Battle Among Rival Lawyers
Mar 10 2017 // Another Uber Technologies Inc. lawsuit settlement is under siege, with warring lawyers for drivers again trying to tear the deal apart. The company wants a Los Angeles judge to bless a proposal to pay 1.6 million...
Keenan & Associates in California Inks Deal to Join AssuredPartners
Mar 9 2017 // Torrance, Calif.-based Keenan & Associates has entered into an agreement to join AssuredPartners Inc. Terms of the deal were not disclosed. Keenan’s 700-plus employees will continue operations under the current...
California Fault Could Yield M7.4 Quake, Study Shows
Mar 9 2017 // An earthquake fault running from San Diego Bay to Los Angeles is capable of producing a magnitude-7.4 earthquake that could affect some of the region’s most densely populated areas, according to a new study. The...
California Legislators Consider Self-Driving Vehicles and the Need for Prop 103 Reform
Mar 9 2017 // Proposition 103—California’s restrictive regulatory regime for insurance—may need a few tweaks as fewer and fewer cars on the road have human drivers. During a March 8 informational hearing, members of the...
Stone Creek Adds Nava as Personal Lines Producer in California
Mar 8 2017 // Miguel Nava has been hired at Stone Creek Insurance Agency in their Lafayette, Calif. headquarters as a personal lines producer. Nava will also serve as chair of the language department, advancing Stone Creek’s...
Nation’s First Driverless Shuttles Make Debut at California Business Park
Mar 8 2017 // The first driverless shuttles in the nation to be operating on public roads made a debut at a San Francisco Bay Area business park. The East Bay Times reporte the shuttles get around using lasers on all four corners, GPS...
Leavitt Group Hires Stephens and Terpstra in California
Mar 8 2017 // United Insurance Services has added KJ Stephens and Adam Terpstra to its Granite Bay, Calif. location. Stephens is an employee benefits agent and Terpstra is a commercial agent. Terpstra specializes in member-owned group...
Autonomous Bus Without Back-Up Driver Coming to California Road
Mar 7 2017 // A pair of $250,000 autonomous buses began driving around an empty San Francisco Bay Area parking lot this week in preparation to move onto a local public road in California’s first pilot program for a self-driving...
