Latest California Headlines

All the headlines from our California Topic Page, ordered by recency.

After Pay by Gender, Is Pay by Race Next for California Protects?

Apr 11 2016 // Just as California businesses begin to implement a law requiring equal pay for workers regardless of their gender, already the toughest of its kind in the nation, a state lawmaker is seeking to expand it to protect...

Schwarzenegger, Hartwig to Headline May Southern California Symposium

Apr 11 2016 // Former California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger will headline an event next month at a Southern California university to benefit insurance students. Schwarzenegger will be joined by Robert Hartwig, an economist and president...

California Adjuster, Family and Friends Embezzled $250k from Insurer, CDI Says

Apr 8 2016 // Elizabeth Louise Brown, 48, of Canyon Country, a former claims adjuster with Explorer Insurance, was arrested this week and charged with multiple felonies, including insurance fraud and conspiracy for allegedly embezzling...

EPIC Names Miller Vice President in California

Apr 8 2016 // EPIC Insurance Brokers & Consultants has named Penny Miller vice president in the firm’s employee benefits consulting team. She will be based in San Francisco and report to David Wiesner, regional director of...

California Prosecutors, Uber Settle Over Background Checks

Apr 8 2016 // Uber Technologies Inc. agreed to settle claims by California prosecutors that its background checks on drivers weren’t as thorough as advertised. The company is required to pay a civil penalty of $10 million within...

California Uber Drivers Seeking $1B Bounty Claim as Trial Draws Near

Apr 8 2016 // Uber Technologies Inc. drivers suing to be treated like employees are trying to add $1 billion in penalties under California’s unique “bounty hunter” statute as they prepare for trial in June. About...

California Workers’ Comp Committee Votes for Lower Mid-Year Filing

Apr 6 2016 // The governing committee of the California Workers’ Compensation Insurance Rating Bureau voted unanimously on Wednesday to authorize the WCIRB to submit a mid-year pure premium rate reduction filing to the California...

California Legislature Moves Closer to Making Insurance Paperless

Apr 6 2016 // The California Assembly Insurance Committee took another step towards making auto, homeowners and workers’ compensation insurance completely paperless by approving Assembly Bill 2591 on Wednesday. AB 2591, authored...

Crest in Arizona and Partners of the West in California Merge

Apr 6 2016 // Cody Ritchie of Crest Insurance Group LLC in Arizona and Ron Wilson of Partners of the West Insurance Services in San Diego, Calif. have merged. Wilson will continue to manage the California division of Crest. Crest...

California Court Says Employers Can’t Deny Workers Seats

Apr 6 2016 // Employers cannot deny a worker a place to sit just because they prefer the person stand, and they must consider the employee’s work station, not their overall duties, when determining whether to provide a seat, the...

Schuhriemen Joins Alliant’s Healthcare Practice in California

Apr 6 2016 // Newport Beach, Calif.-based Alliant Insurance Services Inc. has named Robert Schuhriemen senior vice president in its healthcare practice. Schuhriemen has 24 years of experience. He was a client executive with a global...

California Judge Rules in Favor of Lumber Liquidators in Prop. 65 Case

Apr 5 2016 // Lumber Liquidators Holdings Inc. won a tentative ruling dismissing claims that it failed to adequately warn consumers about cancer-causing formaldehyde found in some of its laminate flooring. Monday’s decision is a...

PIMCO Legal Filing Accuses ‘Bond King’ Gross of ‘Abusive’ Conduct

Apr 5 2016 // Pacific Investment Management Co. said former bond manager Bill Gross’ abusive conduct and effort to sabotage colleagues he deemed disloyal gave it “good cause” to oust him, and not pay any of the more...

Hub Acquires Assets of California-Based Pickett And Associates

Apr 4 2016 // Hub International Ltd. has acquired the assets of La Quinta, Calif.-based Pickett and Associates Inc. Terms of the deal were not disclosed. Pickett’s owners Debra Pickett and Richard Torres will join Hub California...

Government Task Force Will Examine Massive California Natural Gas Leak

Apr 4 2016 // A new U.S. government task force will look into the country’s biggest ever accidental release of methane, which occurred over several months in Los Angeles, Calif., hoping to prevent future leaks of the potent...

People – West

Apr 4 2016 // Edgewood Partners Insurance Center named Brian McDonnell a managing principal, and the formation of a national construction specialty group. McDonnell will be based in EPIC’s Concord, Calif., office and report to...

Farmers CEO Remembers Joplin Tornado at California Gala

Apr 4 2016 // Jeff Dailey, CEO of Farmers Insurance, turned what could have been a mere acceptance speech into a lesson-filled personal account of his first time seeing the devastation wreaked by the May 2011 tornado in Joplin,...

Business Moves

Apr 4 2016 // AmWINS Group, Group Benefit Services AmWINS Group Inc. has acquired Group Benefit Services Inc. and GBS Payroll Plus Inc., known collectively as Group Benefit Services, in Hunt Valley, Md. Terms of the transaction were not...

$5M Deal Reached Between California and TV Component Makers

Mar 31 2016 // California Attorney General Kamala Harris says she has reached a nearly $5 million settlement with five electronics manufacturers accused of fixing prices on television and computer components. Harris’ office...

Wage Hike Would Cost California Taxpayers $3.6B, Analyst Says

Mar 31 2016 // Raising the minimum wage in California to the highest statewide level in the nation would eventually cost taxpayers an additional $3.6 billion a year in higher pay for government employees, legislative analysts...