Claims Journal

Evers Proposes Flood Bills Even Though Assembly Is Done

MADISON, Wis. — Democratic Gov. Tony Evers proposed a multimillion dollar package of legislation Tuesday designed to control spring flooding, hoping to convince Republicans to reconvene the state Assembly to pass them. Assembly Republicans adjourned...

Posted: Mar 12, 2020

Fire Sweeps Illinois Recycling Center, Forces Evacuations

MADISON, Ill. — A fire swept through a recycling business in southwestern Illinois early Wednesday, forcing the evacuation of nearby homes, officials said. The fire began about 2 a.m. Wednesday at a Madison, Illinois, industrial park in the Metro-Eas...

Posted: Mar 12, 2020

Insurer’s Quick Investigation of Exotic Dancer’s Claim Costs it More Than $5.4 Million

In November 2010, Kailee M. Higgins downed 15 shots of tequila during her Saturday night shift as a dancer at Centerfolds II in Worcester, Mass. She was only 20 at the time. Higgins texted a friend that she was “maadd …

Posted: Mar 12, 2020

NBA, MLB, NHL, MLS Closing Locker Rooms Amid Virus Scare

MIAMI — The NBA, NHL, Major League Baseball and Major League Soccer are closing access to locker rooms and clubhouses to all nonessential personnel, including media, in response to the coronavirus crisis, the leagues announced in a joint statement Mo...

Posted: Mar 11, 2020

Police: Flaming Bottle of Hand Sanitizer Sparked Fatal Fire

HARTFORD, Conn. — A Connecticut woman accused of starting an apartment building fire that left a man dead and dozens of residents injured sparked the blaze by throwing a flaming bottle of hand sanitizer at her girlfriend during an argument, …

Posted: Mar 11, 2020

Israeli Spyware Firm NSO Seeks Court Sanctions Against Facebook

TEL AVIV — Israel’s NSO Group is asking a California judge to sanction Facebook Inc for allegedly failing to abide by international law with regards to its lawsuit against the spyware maker. Facebook’s WhatsApp sued NSO in October after finding …

Posted: Mar 11, 2020

Two People Who Attended Cyber Event Contract Coronavirus

Two cybersecurity company employees who attended an annual industry conference last month in San Francisco have tested positive for the coronavirus. At least one is seriously ill with respiratory issues. One of the workers at Exabeam Inc. is a 45-yea...

Posted: Mar 11, 2020

Bausch Yanked Online Prescribing After Dermatologist Backlash

When a new service allowing people to shop online for prescription skin medications launched last month, Anne Marie McNeill had her doubts. The site, Dermatology.com, is backed by drug manufacturer Bausch Health Companies Inc. Before receiving a pres...

Posted: Mar 11, 2020

Boeing Plans Full Drawdown of $13.825 Billion Loan

Boeing Co. is planning to draw down the full amount of a $13.825 billion loan as early as Friday as the planemaker grapples with worldwide travel disruptions from the coronavirus, people familiar with the matter said. Boeing obtained the loan …

Posted: Mar 11, 2020

PG&E Strikes Deal With FEMA Over $3.9 Billion in Fire Claims

PG&E Corp. reached a deal with the U.S. Federal Emergency Management Agency over $3.9 billion in relief Washington provided after the utility’s power lines sparked devastating wildfires. The settlement, which requires court approval, calls for FEMA t...

Posted: Mar 11, 2020

Business News: Cambridge Mobile Telematics, Kingstone and Insurity, Fullerton Beck

CMT Offers Free Use of Driving Safety App Cambridge Mobile Telematics, which produces the sensors and software used by insurance carriers to reward safe drivers with discounts on policies, is now offering its product to the general public for free. …

Posted: Mar 11, 2020

Florida Theme Parks Keep Eye on Virus as Spring Break Nears

ORLANDO, Fla. — As Florida’s busy spring break season kicked off this month, coronavirus czar Vice President Mike Pence addressed something that’s been on the mind of tens of thousands of families preparing to travel to theme parks: Is it …

Posted: Mar 10, 2020

Juul Labs Sought to Court State AGs as Teen Vaping Surged

WASHINGTON — Juul Labs, the nation’s largest electronic-cigarette company, donated tens of thousands of dollars to the campaigns of state attorneys general in an effort to build relationships with these powerful officials and potentially head off leg...

Posted: Mar 10, 2020

She Thought She Had Health Insurance, but Was Left Owing $40,000

BOISE, Idaho — Susan Calvin was healthy. Her family was, too. But their health insurance premiums and deductibles were climbing. When she started shopping for an insurance plan for 2017 and lamented the cost, Calvin says, her insurance broker suggest...

Posted: Mar 10, 2020

Uber’s Challenge to Balance Driver Safety With Customer Privacy

NEW YORK — Margaret Bordelon can still feel the hands of the drunk man who tried to pull her in for a kiss at the end of his Uber ride last September in Lafayette, Louisiana. An Uber driver for only …

Posted: Mar 10, 2020

Coronavirus Motel Ignites Clash at Epicenter of Seattle Outbreak

What started as a bold plan to slow the spread of the coronavirus in the Seattle area is quickly devolving into a Nimby battle. Officials in King County, Washington, the epicenter of the outbreak in the U.S., said this week …

Posted: Mar 10, 2020

Nursing Homes Face Catastrophic Mix of Virus and Lax Oversight

In 2017, a flare-up of scabies in a Downey, California, nursing home persisted for more than six months and left at least seven patients covered in rashes from the skin-boring mites before staff members corralled the problem. A year later, …

Posted: Mar 10, 2020

Carnival’s Princess Sued by Passengers Over Virus Cruise

A Florida couple aboard the ship that docked in California Monday with 21 confirmed coronavirus patients is suing Carnival Corp.’s Princess Cruise Lines, saying the company put passengers in danger. Ronald and Eva Weissberger of Florida’s Broward Cou...

Posted: Mar 10, 2020

Insurers Win Again – Mostly – in Antitrust Lawsuits Filed by Body Shops

A federal appellate court threw out most of the claims by automotive body shops in Indiana, Utah and Mississippi that alleged that major insurers violated anti-trust laws and engaged in anticompetitive practices by steering policyholders to “approved...

Posted: Mar 10, 2020

Couple Recounts How Community Rallied to Fight the Flood

VICKSBURG, Miss. — Sitting in their home overlooking Eagle Lake, Paul and Linda Banchetti recalled their experience from the 2019 flood in a few words. “We were lucky.” Like many other residents in the small community that borders the lake’s …

Posted: Mar 09, 2020

Community Center Helps Storm Victims Rediscover Memories Torn Asunder by Tornado

COOKEVILLE, Tenn. — Other than a section torn from the bottom, the photograph is intact. Dated March 2014 on the back, it’s a graceful, lovely shot, the kind you might see in an engagement announcement: A young couple on railroad …

Posted: Mar 09, 2020

Virus Threatens to Unleash Lawsuits Against Global Business

The coronavirus has upended markets, disrupted supply chains and forced quarantines. It’s all fertile ground for lawsuits. Hospitals, restaurants, day care centers, nursing homes and hotels may face claims that they didn’t take adequate steps to prot...

Posted: Mar 09, 2020

Bayer Investor Sues Top Officials for ‘Disastrous’ Monsanto Deal

A Bayer AG investor sued the board and other top company officials, claiming the “disastrous” 2018 acquisition of Monsanto Co. eroded the company’s share value by saddling it with potentially billions of dollars in liability from Roundup lawsuits. Ba...

Posted: Mar 09, 2020

Why Did Boeing’s Warning on 737 Max Fail to Stop Second Crash?

Eight days after a Boeing Co. 737 Max went down in the Java Sea, killing all aboard, the planemaker issued a worldwide warning to pilots identifying the malfunction that triggered the crash. The bulletin, which was followed almost immediately by …

Posted: Mar 09, 2020

Coronavirus Outbreak Expands Risk of Cyberattack

As U.S. employers ask employees to work from home to avoid exposure to coronavirus, they may be exposing themselves to another kind of risk: Cyberattacks. Aon on Friday issued an advisory cautioning employers to take steps to ensure that work-from-ho...

Posted: Mar 09, 2020