Sabatini and Associates, LLC Attorneys at Law :: Newington :: Hartford :: Connecticut

The number of Discrimination Charges filed with the EEOC increased to 82,792 in 2007, up from 75,768 the previous year. Race, Gender and Retaliation charges were the most frequently reported charges. While announcing the numbers, EEOC Commission Chair Naomi C. Earp stated that Corporate America needs to do a better job of proactively preventing discrimination and addressing complaints promptly and effectively. To ensure that equality of opportunity becomes a reality in the 21st century workplace, employers need to place a premium on fostering inclusive and discrimination-free work environments for all individuals.

 

Allstate Insurance has for years kept secret documents on how to low-ball auto claims to keep profits high. Known as the McKinsey documents, they are now being highly sought by Florida insurance investigators who’ve launched a full scale look at the insurance giants rate-making and claims-paying practices. Florida’s Insurance Commissioner Kevin McCarty has suspended Allstate from doing business in the state after the company failed to turn over information on its business practices. An appellate court lifted the ban.  A company spokesman tells the Tampa Tribune that Allstate will turn over the McKinsey documents, but they only concern auto insurance, not homeowners and they contain ideas that never became company policies. The McKinsey documents get their name from the consulting firm McKinsey & Co that Allstate hired in the early 1990s to help draft its business practices. A few lawyers who have sued Allstate have seen them. Most have protective orders from the court guarding the “trade secrets” of Allstate and cannot release them to the public. McKinsey and Co. also allegedly created documents about how to handle homeowners insurance, also highly sought by trial attorneys in property insurance litigation.  The documents have been succesfully used by lawyers in proving bad faith claims against Allstate.  However, the lawyers that have received the documents are under protective orders preventing the disclosure of the documents.

A Califoronai appraiser has filed a lawsuit against Washington Mutual alleging that she was blacklisted after reporting that home prices were falling.  Last May, she became convinced that home prices were falling in her region so she marked a box in one of her reports indicating that prices were declining.  A WaMu sales manager contacted the appraiser following the report and instructed her to check the box indicating that prices were stable.  She refused.  WaMu then took her off the bank’s preferred appraiser list and has not received more work from the bank.  The lawsuit is pending in California state court.