Law Commons^™

Employment Practices Liability Insurance And Ex Post Moral Hazard, Joni Hersch, Erin E. Meyers

Vanderbilt Law School Faculty Publications

Many businesses purchase Employment Practices Liability Insurance (EPLI), a form of insurance that protects them from claims of discrimination, harassment, retaliation, and wrongful termination. But critics of EPLI argue that allowing insurance coverage for employment liability detracts from employment law's goal of deterrence and from notions of justice. We assess the validity of these criticisms by examining the nature of employment law claims and by reviewing characteristics of the current EPLI market. We find that past critiques miss the mark in diagnosing EPLI's major problem.

The EPLI market, for the most part, functions in a way that poses little to …

The Dimensions Of The Product Liability Crisis, W. Kip Viscusi

Vanderbilt Law School Faculty Publications

Examination of a variety of sources of statistics indicates that the product liability crisis is real, and it is not simply imagined or contrived by the insurance industry. Litigation in the product liability area has escalated dramatically, but to some extent the industry was able to mute the effect of this escalation because of the influence of rising interest rates in the early 1980s as well as because the shrinking market for product liability insurance masked much of the explosion that was occurring in terms of the costs of product liability coverage. The dominant pattern in the early 1980s was …

The Performance Of Liability Insurance In States With Different Products-Liability Statutes, W. Kip Viscusi

Vanderbilt Law School Faculty Publications

The liability crisis of the mid-1980s has led to an extensive reexamination of the liability system. A number of explanations have been offered for the substantial increase in insurance premiums and, in some cases, a decline in the availability of insurance. These include stimulation of the underwriting cycle by a decline in interest rates, collusion among insurance firms, rising tort costs, and uncertainty with respect to the liability burden.' Most observers, however, also point to changes in tort law itself. For example, plaintiffs may now have a more favorable environment for obtaining an award and, if they are successful, they …