Latest Lawsuits Headlines
All the headlines from our Lawsuits Topic Page, ordered by recency.
Construction Defects Burning a Hole through the Residential Contractors Market
Jul 19 2004 // Whether real or imagined, the threat of construction defects litigation has burned through the residential contractors liability insurance market like a California wildfire. Over the past couple of years, contractors and...
Safeguards in Hiring Process Can Help Prevent Lawsuits Later
Jul 19 2004 // There are five times in the employer-employee relationship when the company is most vulnerable to a worker’s lawsuit: when a person is hired, promoted, disciplined, fired or affected by a new policy. Both litigation...
Insurance Companies Offer $67 Million Settlement
Jul 16 2004 // Insurance companies covering former Montana Power Co. directors and officers have offered to pay $67 million to settle a shareholders’ lawsuit over the sale of the utility’s assets, attorney Frank Morrison Jr....
Japanese Insurers Settle Suit Against Fortress Re
Jul 16 2004 // Aioi Insurance Co., Sompo Japan Insurance Inc. and Taisei Reinsurance Co. have annouced that they have settled their damages suit against U.S. reinsurance agent Fortress Re Inc. over losses in connection with the Sept. 11,...
NAMIC Responds to Senate Class Action Vote
Jul 12 2004 // After the Senate failed to reach an agreement on so-called non-germane amendments that would have permitted the class action reform legislation, S. 2062, the Class Action Fairness Act, to be considered in the Senate last...
Calif. Holocaust Survivors Seek Class Action Status of Lawsuit
Jul 9 2004 // Roman Rakover, an 86-year-old Holocaust survivor, believes he is the sole beneficiary of two life insurance policies taken out by his father around 1930 in the amount of $20,000 each. He has a vivid memory of his father...
AIA Responds to Senate Class Action Vote
Jul 9 2004 // The American Insurance Association (AIA) issued the following statement on Friday following the Senate’s vote on class action reform: “It is tremendously disappointing that partisan wrangling and election-year...
Supreme Court Backs HMOs in Fight Over Patient Lawsuits
Jul 5 2004 // Patients can’t seek large damage awards in court if their HMOs refuse to pay for doctor-recommended medical care, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled, rejecting arguments that the threat of multimillion-dollar lawsuits...
CALIF. COMMISSIONER FILES LAWSUIT AGAINST FREMONT GENERAL:
Jul 5 2004 // California Insurance Commissioner John Garamendi filed a lawsuit against Fremont General Corp., a financial services holding company, for alleged misuse of net operating loss deductions belonging to one of its discontinued...
LLOYD’S UNDERWRITERS SUE USAIG, MEMBERS:
Jul 5 2004 // A number of Lloyd’s of London underwriters filed a lawsuit June 15 against an aircraft insurance group and several of its members, alleging the group refused to assist in the defense of companies involved in a deadly...
Safeguards in Hiring Process Can Help Prevent Lawsuits Later
Jul 5 2004 // There are five times in the employer-employee relationship when the company is most vulnerable to a worker’s lawsuit: when a person is hired, promoted, disciplined, fired or affected by a new policy. Both litigation...
Experts Warn of Emerging Trend in ERISA Class-Action Lawsuits at PLUS Symposium
Jun 28 2004 // Stock market declines and the financial collapse of companies such as Enron, Global Crossing and WorldCom have generated numerous shareholder class-action lawsuits against directors and officers alleging violations of...
PLUS: More Cooperation, Knowing Labor Laws and Better Underwriting Measures Needed to Stop Lawsuits
Jun 25 2004 // Effective litigation, cooperation, greater understanding of labor laws and meaningful communication are reportedly the keys to preventing lawsuits. Underwriters need to find out if HR understands state labor laws, whether...
NAMIC Renews Call to Eliminate Regulation By Litigation
Jun 23 2004 // “Lawmakers, regulators and courts must ensure that markets function freely and that laws governing those markets are reliable,” declared National Association of Mutual Insurance Companies (NAMIC) Legal and...
High Court Says ERISA Preempts State Lawsuits
Jun 22 2004 // In a unanimous decision, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled on Monday that patients cannot sue their health maintenance organization under state law for refusing to pay for medical treatment recommended under a doctor’s...
W. Va. WCC Files Suit Against Employers
Jun 22 2004 // West Virginia’s Workers’ Compensation Commission recently filed injunctions against two state employers whose accounts with the Commission are reportedly in default. Injunctions were filed in Kanawha County...
Commissioner Files Lawsuit Against Fremont General
Jun 21 2004 // California Insurance Commissioner John Garamendi filed a lawsuit against Fremont General Corp., a financial services holding company, for alleged misuse of net operating loss deductions belonging to one of its discontinued...
Ohio Moves to Stem Flow of Asbestos, Silica Dust Litigation
Jun 21 2004 // Spurred by a struggling local manufacturing sector which blamed its hard times partly on bankruptcies due to asbestos litigation, Ohio became the first state in the country to place strict limits on plaintiffs’...
OKLA. GOV. SIGNS TORT REFORM BILL:
Jun 21 2004 // After urging its passage, Oklahoma Governor Brad Henry signed into law on May 28, 2004, House Bill 2661, a measure that proponents dubbed “a comprehensive tort reform bill.” In addition to Gov. Henry, the bill...
OKLAHOMA BRIDGE SUIT SETTLED:
Jun 21 2004 // Oklahoma Attorney General Drew Edmondson said the state has settled its lawsuit connected with the Webbers Falls Arkansas River bridge collapse. The settlement calls for the defendants to pay the state $4.5 million. Nearly...
