Latest USA Headlines

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

Halliburton to Settle National Origin, Religious Discrimination Suit for $275K

Oct 9 2019 // Houston-based Halliburton Energy Services Inc. will pay $275,000 and furnish other relief to settle a national origin and religious discrimination lawsuit, federal officials say. The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity...

J&J Hit with Year’s Largest Jury Award Over Marketing Risperdal Drug to Teens

Oct 9 2019 // Johnson & Johnson’s Janssen unit was hit with an $8 billion punitive-damages verdict — the largest jury award in the U.S. this year — over its alleged mishandling of an anti-psychotic drug blamed for...

Marsh JLT Specialty Aviation Hires 4 Execs from Aon, Global Aerospace and Swiss Re

Oct 9 2019 // Marsh, the insurance broker and risk adviser, announced four senior appointments to Marsh JLT Specialty’s Aviation Practice in London and New York. In London, Tony Ambrose and Martyn Holland are set to join as...

Iowa Meat Plant Pushes Back Against Claims of Micronesian Worker Mistreatment

Oct 8 2019 // An Iowa pork processing plant is working to address Micronesia’s concerns about the treatment of some of its citizens who work at the plant. Seaboard Triumph Foods said that it follows all employment laws and it is...

Food Workers Sue to Stop Trump Plan to Speed Up Pig Slaughterhouse Lines

Oct 8 2019 // A food workers’ union filed a federal lawsuit Monday to block a Trump administration move to end limits on the speed of pork slaughter lines, arguing the new rule would lead to more injuries among employees and...

25% of U.S. Health Care Spending Is Waste. Here’s Where to Find It.

Oct 8 2019 // Approximately 25 percent of spending in the U.S. health care system can be characterized as waste. That’s between $760 billion and $935 billion annually. A study published today in the Journal of the American Medical...

As Many as 40 States Eye Probe of Facebook Over Antitrust, Privacy Concerns

Oct 8 2019 // An estimated 40 U.S. state attorneys general will participate in a probe of Facebook Inc., a source said on Monday, suggesting many more states want allegations of anticompetitive practices at the social media company...

Korean Insurer Plans to Boost Overseas Investments to Escape Low-Yield Trap

Oct 8 2019 // South Korea’s third-largest life insurer plans to boost overseas investments to almost a third of total assets, joining the growing ranks of investors that are taking more risks as bond yields decline. Kyobo Life...

Southwest Pilots Sue Boeing for Lost Pay, Legal Costs Over ‘Rush’ Sale of 737 Max

Oct 8 2019 // The union for Southwest Airlines Co. pilots sued Boeing Co., saying the manufacturer rushed output of the 737 Max jet to stay competitive, withholding key information about a feature that contributed to two fatal crashes...

Walgreens, Kroger Join Walmart in Halting Sales of E-Cigarettes

Oct 8 2019 // Kroger Co. and Walgreens Boots Alliance Inc. said on Monday they would stop selling e-cigarettes at their stores, amid heightened regulatory scrutiny of the product and reports of lung disease and some deaths linked to...

Man Sentenced to 2 Years for $250K Insurance Fraud Scheme in California

Oct 7 2019 // Kenneth X. Huang, 41, was sentenced last week to two years in federal prison, three years supervised release, and ordered to pay $259,594 in restitution over a reported fraud scheme involving insurance in California. A...

Supreme Court Lets Stand Claim Applying Disabilities Act to Online Services

Oct 7 2019 // The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday rejected a bid by Domino’s Pizza Inc. to avoid a lawsuit by a blind man who accused the company of violating a law barring discrimination against people with disabilities after he was...

U.S. Supreme Court Rejects U. of Wisconsin Appeal in Patent Fight with Apple

Oct 7 2019 // The U.S. Supreme Court has refused to hear a bid by the University of Wisconsin’s patent licensing arm to reinstate its legal victory against Apple Inc. in a fight over computer processor technology that the school...

Hurricane Dorian Caused More Than C$105M in Insured Damage to Atlantic Canada

Oct 7 2019 // Hurricane Dorian hit Atlantic Canada on Sept. 7 causing more than C$105 million (US$78.9 million) in insured damage, said Insurance Bureau of Canada, quoting the Catastrophe Indices and Quantification Inc. (CatIQ).* The...

States Suing Purdue Pharma Claim Sacklers Drew $13 Billion Profit from OxyContin

Oct 7 2019 // OxyContin maker Purdue Pharma LP steered up to $13 billion in profits to the company’s controlling Sackler family, according to U.S. states opposing efforts to halt lawsuits alleging the company and its owners helped...

Supreme Court Session Opening This Week Faces Controversial Rights Issues

Oct 7 2019 // The U.S. Supreme Court kicks off its new term this week, with a major dispute on tap over whether a landmark decades-old federal anti-discrimination law that bars sex discrimination in the workplace protects gay and...

Update on Lawsuits Targeting Vaping; Litigation Expected to Grow

Oct 7 2019 // Several deaths and potentially hundreds of illnesses tied to e-cigarettes, which allow users to inhale nicotine vapor, often flavored, without smoking, have been reported by U.S. health agency. Lawsuits on behalf of young...

Catastrophe Modelers: U.S. Insured Losses from Dorian Could Reach $1.5B in U.S.

Oct 7 2019 // Insured loss estimates for Hurricane Dorian will range from $500 million to $1.5 billion, according to catastrophe modeling firms Karen Clark & Co. and RMS. According to KCC, Dorian reached peak intensity of 185 mph...

A Blistering Start to 2019 Closely Tracks 2018’s Record-Setting Numbers

Oct 7 2019 // The number of publicly announced deals that closed in the insurance distribution sector during the first two quarters of 2019 closely tracked the number of deals during the same period in 2018, suggesting that 2019 may be...

Surplus Lines Premium Grows in Response to Weak Results; Top 15 E&S Writers: Fitch

Oct 7 2019 // Direct written premiums in the U.S. excess and surplus (E&S) lines market during 2018 grew at its greatest rate since 2012, increasing 11% and representing the eighth consecutive year of premium growth, according to...