This newsletter will be covering Employment Practice Liability Insurance (EPLI)
 
EPLI Insurance is protection, which covers you against claims arising from your employees for such things as Discrimination (race, sex, religion, etc..), Harassment (sexual or otherwise) and Wrongful termination.  Some of these policies will also extend these coverage’s to claims filed against you by third parties (your customers).
 
EPLI coverage is not automatically provided under your current standard Workers Compensation and / or your General Liability policies. Also EPLI Insurance has never been a requirement of the oil companies.  It is a "peace of mind" coverage.
 
We recommend you talk to your attorney, as this is becoming one of the most important coverage you need in order to protect yourself from these type of claims. In the last year, there has been several claims filed against our service station customers. They included but not limited to; wrongful termination, age discrimination, sexual discrimination, religious discrimination, sexual harassment and also a  customer suing for discrimination.  Attorneys are now focusing their attention in this area,  And, whether or not you did everything right and had the proper procedures in place, the attorney expenses to defend these claims and the potential payouts could well exceed $20,000 to $30,000.
 
The good news is you have several options, and RKM Insurance can provide you with EPLI coverage to fit your needs against these clams.  Please contact your agent for more information and a quote.
 
We thank you for your continued business.  
 

We have recently seen a couple of claims come through our office, where an employee was assaulted during a robbery in the early Morning hours.  In one case, the employee was severely beaten. This will end up being a very large Workers Compensation claim.  

In both cases, the service station had the ability to lock the doors at night and have the employee work through a cash drawer behind  bullet-resistant glass.  Unfortunately, they did not do so.

We have also had a $3,000,000 Workers Compensation claim were an employee was working thru a cash drawer but opened up the locked door to allow a “customer” into the mini mart. The cashier was then viciously beaten and  the employee ended up with severe brain damage.

Some dealers are comfortable with not requiring their employees to follow these strict procedures of locking the doors after normal business hours, working through the cash drawers only and not unlocking the door for anyone.

We understand, in some situations, like most Arco AM/PM’s, they cannot incorporate these procedures.  

If you have this protection in place, we strongly urge you to implement these employee safety procedures and strictly enforcing them.

For 24 hour service station operations, most Workers Compensation Insurance Companies now require you that if you have lock down capabilities, that you strictly enforce them. And, if you cannot do lock down procedures, they are now requiring that you to have 2 people working the night shift.

By enforcing these proper safety procedures, you will help keep your premiums down and more importantly, your employees safe.

Feel free to contact us for any questions you may have and thank you again for you continued business!

A brief history on ADA lawsuits: As most of you remember a few years back, (approx.. 3 years), most of our Gas Stations were hit claiming the keypads on the pumps were at an incorrect height. This lead to a lawsuit and thousands of dollars were spent on lowering the keypads, and more lawsuits followed after that costing thousands more. There was an uproar and I believe a California Senator, by the name of Dutton was able to pass a bill in California that put some checks and balances in place with these Attorneys and made it more difficult for them to sue.
 
Well, as you might have guessed, the attorneys have figured out a way around the California law by suing you in Federal Court instead of State Court.  In doing so, this pretty much threw the California statutes and regulations out the window.     
 
Suggested options;
 
•    Hire a Certified Access Specialist Program (CASP).  As the best option, CASP is a person who has been tested and certified by the State.  You can hire a CASP to assess any ADA deficiencies.  The big advantage is, if you comply with the recommendations that the CASP provides, you are then entitled to a 90 day hold on any legal proceeding and possible early evaluation conference.         You can go on line type in 'CASP" in your area, for more information.
•    Getting insurance - not the best option, as it is hard to find coverage, it’s expensive and the deductibles range from $10,000 to $25,000.
•    Do nothing, get sued and then hire an Attorney.  This would be the worst option.
 
The most common ADA violation we see today at our gas stations is the handicap parking.  Page 5 of the attachment talks about the space needed.  Just visited one of our customers this week, the station had the van access on the left side of the ADA parking space. This is a violation.  The law pretty much states, there needs to be a, one 8 foot marked ADA parking space in blue and on the RIGHT another 8 foot blue striped area for a van access with a wheel chair mechanism.
 
Here are a few other violations RKM has run across with some of our gas station customers;
Mirrors too high in the bathroom
Coat hangers/hooks too high in the bathrooms
ALL isles in the mini marts need to be 36 inches wide, (at 35 inches you’re in a lawsuit)
Cash counter is too high for an ADA person to reach up and pay...and the list goes on.
 
By hiring a CASP which costs around $500 to $800, may end up saving you thousands of dollars, as well as saving you time and frustration.
 
We are always available for any additional questions you may have.