Latest USA Headlines

All the headlines from our USA Topic Page, ordered by recency.

Uber Headache if More Drivers Want Full-Time Status

Sep 7 2015 // Thousands of new full-time workers would spring into existence if Uber is forced to stop treating some of its drivers like contract workers, and the benefits that come with that employee status may entice part-time...

Texas Oil Field Co. to Pay $30K to Settle EEOC Retaliation Suit

Sep 4 2015 // An Iraan, Texas, oil field construction and services company will pay $30,000 and furnish other relief to settle a retaliation lawsuit brought by the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), the federal agency...

Judge OKs $415M Settlement in Worker Suit Against Silicon Valley Giants

Sep 4 2015 // A U.S. judge has granted final approval to a $415 million settlement that ends a high profile lawsuit in which workers accused Apple, Google and two other Silicon Valley companies of conspiring to hold down salaries.The...

Surplus Lines Posts Record-Breaking Year for 2014

Sep 4 2015 // The surplus lines industry broke records in 2014, growing direct premium written (DPW) in 2014 to $40.2 billion — the highest point in history, reports A.M. Best’s “2014 Special Report U.S. Surplus Lines –...

XL Catlin Realigns U.S. Excess/Surplus Team, Names 3 Regional VPs

Sep 3 2015 // XL Catlin’s Excess & Surplus (E&S) Casualty business has unveiled a new geographically-focused structure and named three new regional leaders. Coy Rudd is appointed East regional vice president in New York;...

Uber Fails to Block Drivers From Suing as Group for Tips in California

Sep 3 2015 // Uber Technologies Inc. will have to defend a group lawsuit brought by drivers seeking the pay and benefits of employees.The judge’s ruling may slow the company’s growth and cut into its $50 billion valuation....

U.S. Risk and Strategic Program Managers Announce a New Affiliation

Sep 3 2015 // Dallas, TX, September 3 2015- U.S. Risk Insurance Group, Inc. (www.usrisk.com), the sixth largest managing general agency and surplus lines wholesaler in the nation, announced they have entered into an agreement involving...

California Uber Drivers Get Class Action Status in Employment Suit

Sep 2 2015 // Uber drivers are entitled to class action status in litigation over whether they are independent contractors or employees, a key development in a case threatening Uber’s business model and that of other hot startups...

What El Niño Means for the Coming Winter in U.S.

Sep 2 2015 // How the weather plays out in the next six months will have a lot to say about the California drought, snow in the Northeast and even the price of natural gas.A strong El Nino in the equatorial Pacific will make itself...

Fighting Western U.S. Wildfires Costing More than $1B, Agriculture Chief Says

Sep 1 2015 // U.S. Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack said the federal government has spent more than $1 billion fighting this year’s deadly wildfires, which have scorched drought-stricken Western states.Vilsack told a news...

National Federation of the Blind Sued for Alleged Religious Discrimination

Sep 1 2015 // The National Federation of the Blind, the largest organization of blind and low-vision people in the U.S., violated federal law when it refused to allow an employee to observe his Sabbath and instead terminated him because...

U.S. Eyes China, Russia Sanctions Over Cyber Attacks

Sep 1 2015 // The United States is considering sanctions against both Russian and Chinese individuals and companies for cyber attacks against U.S. commercial targets, several U.S. officials said on Monday.The officials, who spoke on...

Asset Managers Urged to Make Cyber Risk Top Priority

Sep 1 2015 // Investors are being poorly served by a haphazard approach from fund managers to the growing threat of cyber crime damaging the companies in which they invest, with a lack of clarity from the businesses themselves...

Joint Employer Ruling Hikes Parent Companies’ Liability, Unions’ Bargaining Power

Aug 31 2015 // A major ruling handed down on Thursday by the U.S. National Labor Relations Board could give unions greater bargaining power by enabling them to negotiate directly with large parent companies like McDonald’s that...

U.S. Chamber of Commerce Urges China to Open Insurance, Securities Markets

Aug 31 2015 // Members of the American Chamber of Commerce group urged China on Friday to allow more access to its insurance and other service industries, saying foreign skills could help develop its volatile stock markets and cope with...

U.S. Risk to Acquire Florida-Based Strategic Program Managers

Aug 31 2015 // U.S. Risk Insurance Group, Inc. has entered into an agreement involving the acquisition by U.S. Risk of an undisclosed ownership interest in Florida-based Strategic Program Managers, a specialist trucking MGA and broker....

California Lawmakers Equal Pay Law Said to be Toughest in U.S.

Aug 28 2015 // California lawmakers approved legislation mandating equal pay for women in what the bill’s author called the toughest such law in the U.S.The Assembly voted 66-2 for the measure requiring employers to pay men and...

How Genome Sequencing Is Transforming Food Safety

Aug 28 2015 // Investigations into foodborne illness are being radically transformed by whole genome sequencing, which federal officials say is enabling them to identify the source of an outbreak far more quickly and prevent additional...

Sierra Club Dragging State Farm into Climate Change Battle

Aug 27 2015 // A State Farm executive is coming under fire from activists for his position on the board of what some consider to be a “climate denier” group.Sierra Club, a progressive investor group and other activist...

10 Automakers Sued Over Claims of Deadly Fumes from Keyless Ignitions

Aug 27 2015 // Ten of the world’s biggest automakers were sued on Wednesday by consumers who claim they concealed the risks of carbon monoxide poisoning in more than 5 million vehicles equipped with keyless ignitions, leading to 13...