A review of recent case filings indicates that restaurants and hotels increasingly are being sued under the negligent hiring and retention doctrines. In these lawsuits, plaintiffs are seeking to hold companies directly liable for employees who commit torts against their coworkers or third parties. For example, a Pennsylvania jury recently awarded over $365,000 to a customer injured by a bouncer who was hired despite having very little experience and a history of unruly behavior. Similarly, an Alabama jury recently awarded a plaintiff $29 million based on theories of vicarious liability and negligent retention after one of the defendant's delivery drivers caused a fatal automobile accident while high on methamphetamines. In that case, the plaintiff successfully argued at trial that the defendant had negligently retained the driver when it did not drug test him and continued to employ him despite receiving complaints alleging erratic behavior.

SACRAMENTO, CA - In an email send to coalition members, including IBA West, the Workers Compensation Action Network (WCAN) reported that it has been well documented that recent workers' compensation reforms have reduced costs by billions of dollars, but information about their impact on medical treatment for injured workers has been largely limited to anecdotes published by workers' comp lawyers.

Recently, the Division of Workers' Compensation (DWC) released a statewide survey of 1,000 injured workers to gauge their attitudes on medical treatment in California's workers' comp system. Their finding: the vast majority (83 percent) of injured workers said they were able to access quality medical care. And 78 percent reported that they were satisfied or very satisfied with the quality of their medical care.

The workers' compensation initiative, titled the "Fair Medical Treatment for Workers Act," has been cleared for circulation by the Secretary of State. Proponent and applicant attorney William S. Morris, must now collect 433,971 valid signatures by September 10, 2007.

LONDON- Lloyd's of London is urging insurers to begin modeling for higher worldwide losses from such threats as global warming, while at the same time acknowledging that there is much uncertainty around the actual impact of climate change.

In its latest climate change report, Rapid Climate Change, Lloyd's claims that waiting on "definitive scientific pronouncements" on the impact of climate change "seems like an increasingly risky strategy."