Latest Washington Headlines
All the headlines from our Washington Topic Page, ordered by recency.
Average Cost of Workers’ Comp in Washington Dropping in 2018
Dec 1 2017 // The price of workers’ compensation insurance will go down for many businesses in Washington next year. The state Department of Labor & Industries announced that the average amount employers and workers pay for...
Washington Commissioner’s Order that Zenefits Charge for Software Upheld
Dec 1 2017 // An administrative ruling has upheld Washington Insurance Commissioner Mike Kreidler’s order that California-based Zenefits must charge for its cloud-based human resources and benefits software. In August 2016,...
Washington-based Trans Ocean to Settle Sexual Harassment Suit
Dec 1 2017 // Washington-based Trans Ocean Seafoods Inc., doing business as New England Shellfish, will pay $75,000 to three female former employees and implement other relief to settle a federal lawsuit filed by the U.S. Equal...
Index Shows Where People Are Moving in Next Few Months
Nov 30 2017 // It’s possible to know where in the country more homebuyers will be moving over the next 30 to 90 days, thanks to what’s called a “pre-mover” index. It turns out that the U.S. markets with the...
Former Washington Insurance Agent Jailed in $233K Workers’ Comp Scam
Nov 29 2017 // A Lake Stevens, Wash. man who ran an insurance agency while claiming he was too disabled to work must serve jail time. The Washington state Department of Labor and Industries says 53-year-old James Kooy was sentenced...
Tribal First Acquires American Indian Health Services in Washington
Nov 28 2017 // Tribal First, a division of Alliant Specialty Insurance Services Inc., has acquired American Indian Health Services. Brendan McKenna, president of AIHS, and his team will join Alliant and continue to serve clients from its...
Assurance Adds Wolfrey to Washington D.C. Team as Risk Management Consultant
Nov 17 2017 // Assurance, a Top 50 U.S. insurance brokerage, has hired Eric Wolfrey to its Washington D.C. team to serve as a risk management consultant. Wolfrey will provide business insurance and risk management solutions to a variety...
Female Engineer Awarded $251K in Washington Discrimination Suit
Nov 8 2017 // A jury has awarded a female Vancouver, Wash. engineer $251,100 for her lawsuit against the Clark County Community Development Department. The Columbian reports that the jury ruled staff at the department defamed and...
County in Washington Not Negligent in Suit 84-Year Old Juror Who Froze to Death
Nov 6 2017 // Local government officials were not negligent in the death of an elderly man who had reported for jury duty and was later found covered with snow outside a Washington state courthouse, jurors ruled. Kay Mita, 84, reported...
Assurance Furthers Expansion Into Washington D.C. with Hiring of Groseclose
Oct 27 2017 // Assurance, a Schaumburg, Ill.-headquartered, independent insurance brokerage, has hired Jack Groseclose to serve as an employee benefits advisor. In his new role, Groseclose will be based in Washington D.C., furthering...
18 States Denied Bid for Emergency Order to Restore Obamacare Subsidies
Oct 26 2017 // A U.S. judge on Wednesday refused to block President Donald Trump’s decision to end subsidy payments to health insurers under Obamacare, handing Trump a victory against Democratic attorneys general who have regularly...
PEMCO in Washington Names Vigil to Executive Team, Barry as Vice President of Claims
Oct 17 2017 // Seattle, Wash.-based PEMCO Insurance has named M.J. Vigil to its executive team as the company’s new vice president of people and brand. PEMCO also named Paul Barry to its executive leadership team as vice president...
Trump Defends Killing Off Obamacare Subsidies; 18 States Sue in Uphill Battle
Oct 15 2017 // Eighteen U.S. states sued President Donald Trump’s administration on Friday to stop him from scrapping a key component of Obamacare, subsidies to insurers that help millions of low-income people pay medical expenses,...
Leavitt Group Acquires Group Services Northwest in Washington
Oct 11 2017 // Leavitt Group Northwest has acquired Group Services Northwest. Terms of the deal were not disclosed. This merger will not affect Group Services Northwest client policies and all staff remains with the agency at the same...
Is It Time to Say So Long to Social Security Numbers?
Oct 10 2017 // The Trump administration is exploring ways to replace the use of Social Security numbers as the main method of assuring people’s identities in the wake of consumer credit agency Equifax Inc.’s massive data...
Washington and Seattle Become Latest Governments to Sue Opioid Makers
Oct 3 2017 // Washington state and the city of Seattle on Thursday joined more than two dozen other government entities across the country suing to hold opioid makers accountable for an addiction crisis that has claimed thousands of...
Arkansas Officials Seek to Limit Liability in Duggar Privacy Lawsuit
Sep 28 2017 // Arkansas officials are seeking immunity from being sued for releasing decade-old information about a sexual abuse investigation involving Josh Duggar and four of his sisters. Jill Duggar Dillard, Jessa Duggar Seewald,...
$1.3M From Archdiocese in Washington to Settle Sex Abuse Case
Sep 27 2017 // The Seattle Archdiocese in Washington has paid $1.3 million to settle a sex-abuse lawsuit involving a former member of a religious order who taught in its schools. A man sued the archdiocese in 2015, alleging the church...
Report: Climate Change May Pose Threat to Nation’s Electric Grid
Sep 4 2017 // Climate change may pose a serious risk to the nation’s electric grid, according to a new report. The report was prepared by Johns Hopkins University with help from Swiss Re. “Lights out: The risks of climate...
Storm-Prone Cities Vie for Environmental Impact Bonds
Aug 17 2017 // As climate change pushes U.S. cities to build protections against stronger storms and more frequent floods, the Rockefeller Foundation is helping cities with a novel kind of financing, one that transfers some of the risk...
