E&O Weekly Prevention
  
Strategies for the Professional Agent
July 24, 2014
Agents of America





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E&O Tip of the Week

Each week AOA thru the Learning Center will be providing E&O tips. These E&O tips will be developed from AOA's extensive library of high level educational material and will be included as part of the webinar / seminar package currently in development, that both agents and carriers will find beneficial in reducing E&O Claims. 
 
Check out this week's E&O TIP on "Have you looked lately how you are promoting yourself and your agency?
  
MONDAY MORNING, the weekly "mini-webinar" features industry leader and marketing guru George Nordhaus, this week's topic is "Top 10 Lessons of a Lifetime", this week George interviews, Roger Sitkins of Sitkins International to discuss his top 10 Lessons of a Lifetime, in an exclusive presentation. To see this week's presentation click here.     

 

A review of the top stories on World Risk & Insurance News at WRIN.tv. Here is your opportunity to see the online video news stories you may have missed. Watch them now "Week in Review".

 

AgentsofAmerica.ORG membership is FREE! Also, if you have any thoughts, comments or suggestions, please email me at [email protected]. We also would like to extend an invitation for you to join AOA's LinkedIn group at AGENTS OF AMERICA.  

 

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Check out your CE State Requirements.  

 

"Bringing the Best Together"

Angelo J Gioia

Publisher

AOA News, Views, Tips & More

Fighting Back Against the Insurance Industry's "Restitution"/"No Covered Loss" Defenses

By Joshua Gold, Esq. of Anderson Kill P.C.

 

Over the last several years, D&O and E&O insurance companies in particular have contested scores of insurance claims by arguing that the claims do not constitute "loss" as defined in the insurance policy. The insurance company arguments vary a bit but usually involve one or more assertions: 1) the amounts sought by the underlying plaintiffs supposedly seek the return of ill-gotten gains or "restitution," 2) the amounts sought supposedly seek a disgorgement or refund and 3) the amounts sought by the underlying plaintiffs supposedly seek breach-of-contract damages that will result in a windfall to the policyholder if it gets coverage for the contract performance it breached.

 

By Michael Mercer, Ph.D.

 

Drama in your company creates havoc and expensive employee problems.  Workplace drama

-  destroys productivity

-  harms teamwork

-  distracts coworkers

-  damages work atmosphere 

By Carl J. Pericone, Esq. of Wilson Elser Moskowitz Edelman & Dicker LLP

 

In its landmark 2011 decision in American Electric Power Co., Inc. v. Connecticut, et al., 131 S.Ct. 2527 (2011), the U.S. Supreme Court held that the Clean Air Act (CAA) and the actions by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) it authorized displace - that is, preempt - "any federal common law right to seek abatement of carbon-dioxide emissions from fossil-fuel fired plants." Significantly, however, the American Electric Court expressly declined to extend its preemption holding to state common law nuisance suits. To date, only four reported decisions have addressed the state law preemption issue. Three have rejected preemption and one has embraced it.

 

Protected Speech Does Not Include Extortion, California Appellate Court Rules

By Mitchell F. Boomer, Esq. of Jackson Lewis P. C.

 

An employee's e-mail threatening to report his employer to the U.S. Attorney and file an action under the federal False Claims Act unless the employer agreed to settle his defamation claim constituted extortion, as a matter of law, the California Court of Appeal has ruled. Stenehjem v. Sareen, No. H038342 (Cal. Ct. App. Jun. 13, 2014). Thus, the e-mail was not protected speech under California's anti-SLAPP statute, Cal. Code Civ. Proc. � 425.16. The Court reversed the dismissal of the employer's complaint for extortion. While the unusual allegations in this case do not arise often, the decision is a positive development for California employers.

 

Employer Liability for Conduct of Non-Employees

By Seth L. Laver, Esq., Michael P. Luongo, Esq. and Michael S. Saltzman, Esq. of Goldberg Segalla LLP

 

Part of running a successful professional practice involves fostering a work environment that is free from harassment. Federal law protects employees from harassment in the workplace, which becomes unlawful where the conduct is so pervasive as to create a work environment that a reasonable person would consider intimidating, hostile, or abusive. Many employers train employees about the consequences of harassment and have policies to handle employees who violate the rules. However, managing the conduct of employees is not necessarily sufficient to prevent liability.

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