In California, few industries are as heavily regulated as is the insurance industry. California has perhaps the strongest insurance laws in the nation designed to protect its policyholders, including regulations to ensure that carriers have sufficient resources to pay claims, to control the manner in which premiums are calculated, and to regulate specific language within…
DetailsThe California legislature has been busy. There are numerous new and significant employment laws effective January 1, 2020. Employers should take note of the following key developments and should review their policies and practices—preferably with counsel—to ensure they are in compliance so as to limit any potential exposure. Minimum Wage and Minimum Salary Basis Increase (Labor…
DetailsAlthough the number of Californians needing evaluations for reported on-the-job-injuries has soared, the state’s stable of approved medical evaluators to review those cases has been dropping. Injured workers in California often wait months or even years to receive the medical evaluations required to get needed treatment, and in some cases to determine how disabled they…
DetailsThe California Insurance Commissioner’s authority to require carriers to file key policy documents for pre-approval and – more importantly – to void those agreements that were not filed was reaffirmed and reinforced by a Los Angeles Superior Court. “The big takeaway from this is that under Insurance Code section 11737, the Commissioner has the authority…
DetailsThere is potentially some more bad news for California employers affected by the recent wave of “independent contractor” decisions. The California Court of Appeal recently held that the ABC test as outlined in the 2018 California Supreme Court Dynamex decision applies retroactively to pending litigation on wage and hour cases. The opinion in Gonzales v.…
DetailsThe Court of Appeal concluded that many of the disputed wage and hour claims in an underlying lawsuit are potentially subject to coverage under an employment practices liability insurance (“EPLI”) policy despite a wage and hour exclusion. Southern California Pizza Company, LLC (“SCPC”) was named as a defendant in a putative class action lawsuit alleging…
DetailsThe California Department of Insurance has ordered that Applied Underwriters’ California Insurance Company issue no new or renewal policies. The order applies to all new or renewal policies, including those in SolutionOne, JumboGC, and the controversial EquityComp. Nick Roxborough shares his thoughts here.
DetailsAs published in the San Fernando Valley Business Journal on September 19, 2019. About 400 people appeared at the Warner Center Marriott Woodland Hills on Wednesday as the United Chambers of Commerce held its 15th Annual Richard Leyner Mayor’s Luncheon with Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti as keynote speaker. United Chambers’ chair, Armida Colmenares-Stafford, introduced…
DetailsThe article below was featured in Business Insider on July 24, 2019. A legislative effort to raise the compensation for qualified medical examiners in California aims to help quell the loss of doctors working on cases involving injured workers. Qualified medical evaluators are physicians certified by the California Division of Workers Compensation Medical Unit to…
DetailsRPNA’s Nicholas Roxborough attended last week’s National WCIRB Annual Conference, where he spoke on the Dynamex issue and also served as a moderator on the California Consumer Protection Act of 2018.