Claims Journal

Boeing Plans a Quiet Comeback for 737 Max as Grounding Nears End

Boeing Co. is plotting a low-key comeback for the 737 Max, the grounded jetliner that has spent almost two years engulfed in controversy and tragedy after two fatal crashes, said people familiar with the matter. There won’t be an advertising …

Posted: Sep 30, 2020

Purging Water System of Brain-Eating Microbe to Take 60 Days

LAKE JACKSON, Texas — A Houston-area official said Monday it will take 60 days to ensure a city drinking water system is purged of a deadly, microscopic parasite that doctors believed killed a boy and that led to warnings for …

Posted: Sep 30, 2020

Survey: In Hollywood, Few Believe Harassers Will Be Punished

Disgraced mogul Harvey Weinstein may well spend the rest of his life in prison. But that doesn’t mean workers in Hollywood have faith that other harassers and abusers will be similarly punished. Instead, three years after the explosive Weinstein scan...

Posted: Sep 30, 2020

Dying Winds Give Crews Hope in Northern California Fires

SAN FRANCISCO — Easing winds gave California firefighters a break Tuesday as they battled a destructive wildfire that was driven by strong winds through wine country north of San Francisco and another rural blaze that killed three people. Breezes rep...

Posted: Sep 30, 2020

NTSB: Regulators Failed at Jobs in Limo Crash That Killed 20

ALBANY, N.Y. — Federal investigators examining the 2018 crash of a stretch limousine that killed 20 people said Tuesday that state regulators repeatedly failed to oversee a poorly maintained vehicle with corroded brakes. National Transportation Safet...

Posted: Sep 30, 2020

Cyberattack Hobbles Major Hospital Chain’s US Facilities

WASHINGTON — A computer outage at a major hospital chain thrust healthcare facilities across the U.S. into chaos Monday, with treatment impeded as doctors and nurses already burdened by the coronavirus pandemic were forced to rely on paper backup sys...

Posted: Sep 30, 2020

Claims People: Envista, Allianz, Florida Peninsula, Beazley and CaseGlide

Envista Forensics Hires New President Envista Forensics, a global provider of forensic consulting services for insurance claims, has appointed Christina Lucas as president. Lucas will replace Robert Wedoff, who has held the role of president since 20...

Posted: Sep 30, 2020

Mass. AG Accuses Claimant’s Law Firm of Taking Kickbacks From Pharmacy

Massachusetts Attorney General Maura Healey has filed a lawsuit against a Massachusetts law firm, alleging it accepted tens of thousands of dollars in illegal kickbacks from a pharmacy in exchange for referring hundreds of its personal injury clients...

Posted: Sep 30, 2020

Meatpackers Deny Workers Benefits For Covid-19 Deaths, Illnesses

Saul Sanchez died in April, one of six workers with fatal COVID-19 infections at meatpacker JBS USA’s slaughterhouse in Greeley, Colorado, the site of one of the earliest and deadliest coronavirus outbreaks at a U.S. meatpacking plant. Before getting...

Posted: Sep 29, 2020

Touchless Lattes and Self-Service Kiosks: Office Break Rooms Go Virus-Proof

Out with grimy microwaves and sticky coffee machines with worn-out buttons, in with stylus pens, QR codes, no-touch water coolers and mobile apps that pick what brew the machine will make for you. From the headquarters of Ford in Dearborn, …

Posted: Sep 29, 2020

Opposition Team Criticizes Enbridge Plans for Oil Tunnel

TRAVERSE CITY, Mich. — Enbridge’s plans for drilling an oil pipeline tunnel beneath a channel linking two of the Great Lakes do not meet industry standards and pose significant hazards to workers and the environment, experts who reviewed project docu...

Posted: Sep 29, 2020

3 Countries to Assess New Info About 1994 Ferry Sinking

STOCKHOLM — The governments of Sweden, Finland and Estonia said Monday they will jointly assess what that they called “new significant information” in connection with one of Europe’s deadliest peacetime maritime disasters, the sinking of a ferry in t...

Posted: Sep 29, 2020

Georgia Court Allows Lawsuit Against Sperm Bank to Proceed

ATLANTA — A couple who accused a sperm bank of misrepresenting its process for screening donors and providing incorrect medical and educational history of the donor they selected can proceed with a lawsuit against the sperm bank, Georgia’s highest co...

Posted: Sep 29, 2020

Croptober Is Going Up In Smoke Amid Wildfires

October usually heralds the harvest of outdoor cannabis plants, affectionately known as “Croptober.” But this fall, something more serious is in the air: smoke from the wildfires that are ravaging California and Oregon. Fires are clustered in Norther...

Posted: Sep 29, 2020

Fire in California Wine Country Expands as Thousands Flee

A wildfire ripping through Northern California’s wine country has more than tripled in size, forcing thousands of evacuations and endangering properties in a region devastated by blazes just three years ago. The Glass Fire north of San Francisco reac...

Posted: Sep 29, 2020

After Refusing $30K Settlement Offer, Bad Faith Suit May Cost GEICO $2.7M

More than eight years after Bonnie Winslett tore up and threw away a summons that notified her she was being sued, the Georgia Supreme Court is being asked to resolve questions of law that will determine whether GEICO Indemnity Co. …

Posted: Sep 29, 2020

U.S. Pension Funds Sue Allianz After $4B in Coronavirus Losses

FRANKFURT — Pension funds for truckers, teachers and subway workers have lodged lawsuits in the United States against Germany’s Allianz, one of the world’s top asset managers, for failing to safeguard their investments during the coronavirus market m...

Posted: Sep 28, 2020

California Wine Country Wildfire Forces Evacuation of Hospital, Hundreds of Homes

ST. HELENA, Calif. — A wind-driven wildfire erupted on Sunday in the heart of northern California’s Napa Valley wine country to spread across nearly 2,000 acres (809 hectares), forcing the evacuation of a hospital and hundreds of homes, authorities s...

Posted: Sep 28, 2020

Agriculture Workers Risk Safety and Health During Pandemic

States such as Virginia, Oregon and Washington have created their own enforceable rules to control, prevent and mitigate the spread of the virus among farmworkers. But federal mandates are necessary to ensure that employers are doing enough to protec...

Posted: Sep 28, 2020

Power Company Plans Series Of Shutoffs To Prevent Wildfires

LOS ANGELES — One of California’s largest power companies announced Saturday it plans to temporarily shut off power to residents of 16 counties and a tribe to prevent wildfires sparked by electrical equipment. Pacific Gas & Electric Co. said it …

Posted: Sep 28, 2020

Residents Debate Mountain Living Amid Wildfire Concerns

RED FEATHER LAKES, Colo. — Amanda Harmon spent years dreaming of living in Colorado’s mountains. And she worked for it, too. Seven days a week, Harmon waited tables at a golf course and cleaned vacation rentals here, a remote community …

Posted: Sep 28, 2020

Hacked Software Provider Acknowledges Ransomware Attack

DALLAS — A major U.S. provider of software services to state and local governments acknowledged Friday that it was hit by a ransomware attack two days after telling clients an unknown intruder had compromised its phone and information technology syst...

Posted: Sep 28, 2020

California Braces for Power Shutoffs and Warm, Windy Weekend

SAN FRANCISCO — Firefighters and officials at California’s largest utility company braced for hot, dry and windy weather in northern and central areas of the state this weekend that may fan the flames of several major wildfires or ignite new …

Posted: Sep 28, 2020

Plaintiffs Win One and Lose One in COVID-19 Business-Interruption Legal Fight

A federal judge in Florida last week denied an insurer’s petition to dismiss a COVID-19 business-interruption lawsuit, while a federal magistrate judge in California threw out a similar claim. Both lawsuits were filed by plaintiffs whose policies exc...

Posted: Sep 26, 2020

Masks Are Coveted Items With Covid and Smoke Sweeping West Coast

Lindsey Major, wracked with asthma, crisscrossed Seattle in search of an N95 mask as wildfire smoke blanketed the West Coast. The 25-year-old from Mercer Island scoured stores. Pharmacies, big-box outlets, grocers — none had anything to offer. At wor...

Posted: Sep 25, 2020