EPLI
Employment practices liability insurance (EPLI) is another form of business insurance that’s increasingly important as your business and its employees grow, change, and develop. EPLI protects a business, its owners or officers, employees and managers against claims or lawsuits including discrimination, wrongful termination, sexual harassment, failure to promote and other employment related allegations.
With today’s business environment and industry being intertwined with technology it’s easy to imagine that these new technologies put in place may inadvertently expose employee benefit enrollment or personal employee information publicly; EPLI protects against such scenarios. Other scenarios might come to mind in light of recent high-profile scandals of sexual harassment claims and lawsuits.
Examples
- Harassment Claim – a female employee working for a construction company alleged that her male co-workers sexually harassed her by making derogatory comments about women in her presence. After complaining to her supervisors, the harassment increased. This resulted in $20,000 in compensatory damages and $80,000 in punitive damages awarded to the victim.
- Age Discrimination – An age discrimination lawsuit was brought by a highly paid 62 year old sales representative who was employed by the insured. he was terminated for not meeting his sales quotas. Despite layoffs and cutbacks at the company, there was no documentation that showed the plaintiff was a poor performer. A settlement of $540,000 was reached.
- Racial Discrimination – A group of Indian descent applicants sued a private retail store for ethnic and racial discrimination after learning they had been denied employment strictly based on their race and ethnic background. The Defense Cost and settlement was over $200,000.
- Sexual Harassment Lawsuit – A male employee claimed that he had been being stalked and harassed by a female executive, culminating with the executive pinning him against a wall and kissing him at a company retreat. The defense and settlement of the case exceeded $400,000.
- Retaliation Lawsuit – The Executive Assistant to the Chief Financial Officer was terminated for divulging confidential information to staff regarding impeding company layoffs. A suit was brought by the assistant for retaliation and sexual harassment as she claimed the CFO always made suggestive comments and improperly touched her. Defending the CFO cost over $150,000.
Did You Know?
- Over 40% of EPL claims are against firms with fewer than 100 employees.
- The average cost of defense for employment litigation is $150,000 to $250,000.
- 47% of plaintiff verdicts are between $100,000 and $500,000.
- The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) recorded nearly 100,000 charges in 2013.
- Discrimination and/or harassment coverage applicable to customers and other 3rd parties may be available.
Contact Us
At Steele Group Insurance Agency we offer EPLI coverage for your business as well as any other coverage you’d need for your business. Check out our Commercial Insurance offers and our Employment Practices Liability Insurance to see what else we can do for you.
Better yet, Contact Us! 541.687.2600
It only takes a few minutes to review your current coverages and the premium you can save. We partner with the leading carriers which enable us to obtain a variety of prices and insurance rates to find the best combination of coverage for you. Once your coverage is in place, our job really begins; we work as your advocate, providing ongoing advice, guidance and support.
