Risk & Business Magazine JGS Insurance Risk & Business Magazine Summer 2018 | Page 26

EPLI
Why EPLI Is Crucial To
Your Business
D
id you witness how quickly
the #MeToo movement
swept through the country? It
seemed as if no sectors were
left untouched, and everyone
has become hyperaware of potential
harassment concerns. Before we discuss why
employment practices liability insurance
(EPLI) can help, let’s take a closer look at
other potential liabilities lurking in the
employment arena.
Even before the #MeToo movement began
unfolding in late 2017, employee lawsuits
were on the rise in the United States.
Employees can file claims for all sorts of
reasons. A simple offhand comment or
unintended bias in an interview can place
your company at significant risk. Areas of
potential liability for employers include the
following:
•
• Wrongful termination
•
• Sexual or workplace harassment
Discrimination (race, age, sex and other
categories)
Breach of employment contract
Here are a few examples that may just
provide a wake-up call to how serious—and
commonplace — these exposures can be:
•
An employee writes offensive or crude
comments on a bathroom stall wall and
another employee is offended
• An employee tells off-color jokes that
offend other employees
• You are deciding between two female
employees for promotion and select the
one who is not pregnant
• You prohibit an employee from
returning after a medical leave unless
the employee has full clearance to
perform all job duties
• An employee has filed a harassment
lawsuit and doesn’t get a raise during
26
a performance review when other
similarly classified employees receive
them
While the most claims result from allegedly
unfair employment terminations, other
types of lawsuits are becoming increasing
widespread:
• Pregnancy discrim