Sixteen months into #MeToo, companies seeking sexual
harassment insurance are facing intense scrutiny from insurers — a trend
that could put pressure on firms to institute organizational change.
A recent report, authored by an insurance industry consultant,
reveals new measures that insurers are taking to mitigate the risks of
writing harassment policies, including decisions to exclude entire
industries from their portfolios.
The increased vigilance comes as harassment complaints filed with the
U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission are on the rise, perhaps
sparked by the wave of #MeToo revelations. The EEOC received
7,609 sexual harassment charges in its 2018 fiscal year, up nearly 14
percent from 2017. These numbers don’t include an unknown number of
complaints settled by victims who never contacted the federal regulator.
Ten of the 32 insurance companies polled by Richard S. Betterley,
publisher of the Betterley Report, said they were not underwriting the
legal industry. Financial firms, including brokers, investment banks,
and venture capital operations landed on the prohibited lists of eight
insurers. Seven insurers said they’d blacklisted companies in the
entertainment industry. Betterley shared a copy of his report, completed
in December, exclusively with The Intercept and Type Investigations.
Betterley reached out to the biggest companies offering what is
called “employment practices liability insurance,” or EPLI, which covers
sexual harassment, sex discrimination, and other employee claims. Among
the companies responding to Betterley’s survey were AIG, Chubb, The
Hartford, and Travelers.
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Source: The Intercept_
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