For our Spring installment of The Robins Kaplan Insurance Insight, we had the pleasure of sitting down with FM Global’s Maxine Walker to get her take on mentoring and supporting women in the insurance industry. Her teachings are echoed in this month’s article on the need for gender parity in corporate leadership. We also examine gender issues in our piece on non-binary thinking, its implications for employers, and the need for appropriate Employment Practices Liability Insurance coverage. This issue also reviews the latest court rulings on bad faith and flood coverage. The Pennsylvania Supreme Court is now poised to consider whether the test for bad faith should include a separate “bad motive” requirement – a factor previously viewed as merely a discretionary consideration for courts. In our final article, we examine how catastrophic flood events worldwide have become increasingly common and why it’s more important than ever to keep an eye on Superstorm Sandy case developments.
We hope you enjoy this edition’s offerings and we welcome your feedback on topics and areas of interest for upcoming issues.
In This Issue
- Follow the Leader
Amy Churan
Need to Find and Grow Talent? Follow the Lead of FM Global’s Maxine Walker. Her experience and candor highlight the need for inspiring role models and a willingness to take risks—both traits she embodies and instills in others. - Gender Parity in Corporate Leadership: A Work in Progress
Ami ElShareif
Despite numerous studies demonstrating that gender diversity in corporate leadership correlates with increased productivity and profitability, female corporate leaders remain the exception to the rule. However, thanks to “Women in the Workplace,” an annual study published by LeanIn.Org and McKinsey & Company that analyzes “the state of women in corporate America,” companies must confront the gender deficiencies with their organizations and develop a strategy to increase gender diversity in their leadership. - Binary Thinking During the Gender Revolution? You Might Need Employment Practices Liability Insurance
Marie Roehm
The EEOC and an increasing number of courts are extending Title VII’s protection to LGBT employees, but the outcome of any given claim is still very uncertain. See how these claims are being handled by the courts and why their costs merit consideration of EPLI. - The Pennsylvania Supreme Court Considers Whether to Add a “Bad Motive” Element to Its Bad Faith Standard
Christina Lincoln
The seminal Terletsky decision setting the standard for bad faith liability in Pennsylvania is now under re-examination by the Pennsylvania Supreme Court, who is considering whether the add “bad motive” as a prerequisite to proving bad faith. With oral arguments already submitted, insureds and insurers alike are eagerly awaiting the Court’s decision. - Superstorm Sandy’s “Water Borne Material”: Renegade Boats and Displaced Houses—Oh My!
Melissa D'Alelio
As catastrophic flood events worldwide become increasingly common, it is important to keep an eye on Superstorm Sandy case developments. They are and will continue to be relevant in the property insurance coverage world. Recently, two courts had occasion to explore whether the phrase “water borne material” often found in surface water exclusions encompass careening watercrafts and rogue houses. - Robins Kaplan and FM Global Present on Superstorm Sandy at the 2017 PLRB Claims Conference in Boston
Congratulations to Melissa M. D’Alelio, Principal with Robins Kaplan’s Boston office, and Meredith L. Murphy, Staff Vice President and Senior Litigation Counsel at FM Global, who successfully presented "Superstorm Sandy: Reflecting Upon Her Teachings” at the Property and Liability Research Bureau’s (“PLRB’s”) 2017 Claims Conference.