Court of Appeal Holds Insurer Has no Duty to Insure Where Insured Has Knowledge of Underlying Facts of Potential Claims

By Marc J. Zimet, Esq. of at Jampol Zimet, LLP

On April 10, 2015 the California Court of Appeal issued a decision holding that an insurer has no duty to insure against claims where the underlying facts of those claims are known to the insured during the application process but not disclosed. This case turned on the insurer's application and policy provisions, which clearly provided for the exclusion of claims of which the insured disclosed or should have disclosed. Because the insured had knowledge of the underlying claims and therefore should have disclosed them, the insurer properly denied coverage.

What Constitutes Harassment? Impact of New Law

By Seth L. Laver,Esq., Dove Burns, Esq. and Michael F. Lettiero, Esq. of Goldberg Segalla

Retaliation and harassment are the most commonly filed employment law claims nationwide. After the Fourth Circuit's recent decision in Boyer-Liberto v. Fountainbleau Corp., No. 13-1473 (4th Cir. May 7, 2015) lawsuits alleging hostile work environment and harassment will only be more difficult for employers to dispose of.  The Fourth Circuit held that a single instance of harassment may create an actionable hostile work environment claim, and that an employee can be protected from retaliation when complaining about harassment, even if the purported harassment is ultimately not severe enough to create a hostile work environment.

By Peter R. Bulmer, Esq. of Jackson Lewis P.C.

On April 30, 2015, the Wisconsin Supreme Court issued its long-awaited decision in Runzheimer Int'l, Ltd. v. Friedlen, settling a dispute in Wisconsin over whether continued employment alone was sufficient to bind an employee to a non-compete agreement. The case involved an important, if nuanced, distinction between (a) whether there is a legal "agreement" in the first place and (b) whether that legal agreement is enforceable. If there is no legal agreement, then there is nothing to enforce. If there is a legal agreement, the question becomes whether the restrictions themselves are enforceable (based on their reasonableness, etc.). The former question was addressed in Runzheimer.

No Potential Insurance Recovery for Assignees Where Settlement Agreement Between Insureds and Assignees Was Fraudulent

By Elizabeth L. Musser, Esq. of Tressler LLP

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit affirmed the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California's finding that assignees could not potentially recover insurance proceeds where the subject settlement agreement between the assignees and the insureds was fraudulent. Carlson v. Century Surety Co., Nos. 12-15964, 12-16153, 2015 U.S. App. LEXIS 5180 (9th Cir. Mar. 31, 2015).

By Mark Hunter The Sales Hunter

Here are 5 things you can do write now to improve your prospecting emails:

1. Think newspaper headline, not a letter.

Big mistake salespeople make is they use the first paragraph to introduce themselves and their company to the prospect.

This is a huge waste! Any prospect viewing this will delete it in a split second.

Supreme Court Holds that Employers Cannot Deny Pregnant Workers the Same Accommodations it Provides to Other Workers who are Injured on the Job

By Thomas Paschos, Esq. of Thomas Paschos & Associates, P.C.

In Young v. UPS, Inc., 135 S. Ct. 1338 (March 25, 2015), plaintiff, Peggy Young, was a part-time driver for UPS. When she became pregnant she was told by her doctor not to lift heavy packages. UPS refused to reassign her or let co-workers help her. Young alleged that UPS's failure to accommodate her pregnancy was illegal. UPS has a policy of accommodating other people who temporarily couldn't do heavy lifting, and plaintiff alleged that refusing to do so for her was discrimination. According to UPS, those other assignments were only in very specific cases such as an on-the-job injury. Usually, they don't accommodate employees who can't do their jobs for physical reasons.

Protecting Your Reputation

Book One - 

A Comprehensive Guide To Avoiding E & O Claims

Book Two - 

E&O Exposures in the Sales Process

Book Three - 

E & O Exposures By Line of Business

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