Latest Virginia Headlines

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

Markets/Coverages: High-End Home Insurer Openly Enters Virginia

Jul 10 2024 // Home insurer Openly has begun offering its coverage options to independent insurance agents and their policyholders in Virginia.Already active in 23 states, the upmarket home insurer said it is launching in Virginia with a...

15 Firefighters Injured Fighting Virginia Warehouse Fire

Jul 9 2024 // Fifteen firefighters were injured fighting a large blaze at a fertilizer warehouse in South Hill, Virginia on Saturday.The firefighters were hospitalized due to chemical exposure, heat exhaustion and minors scrapes and...

Court Finds Virginia’s Punitive Damages Cap Applies Per-Plaintiff in Charlottesville Case

Jul 3 2024 // A federal appeals court has ruled that Virginia’s $350,000 punitive damages cap applies on a per-plaintiff basis in a case against white supremacists who organized the “Unite the Right” rally in...

Marshall Elected Chair of Virginia Workers’ Compensation Commission

Jul 2 2024 // Wesley G. Marshall has been elected to a three-year term as chairman of the Virginia Workers’ Compensation Commission (VWC), effective July 1, 2024.He succeeds Commissioner Robert A. Rapaport, whose term ended June...

Dali Cargo Ship Leaves Baltimore for Virginia, Nearly 3 Months After Bridge Collapse

Jun 26 2024 // The cargo ship Dali headed out of Baltimore for Virginia on Monday, nearly three months after it lost power and crashed into one of the Francis Scott Key bridge’s supporting columns and caused the bridge to...

Fatal House Explosion in Virginia Blamed on Man Igniting Gasoline

Jun 12 2024 // A man who died in a house explosion six months ago outside the nation’s capital deliberately detonated gasoline canisters in his basement that caused the blast, authorities said Friday.Arlington County police in...

University to Pay $9 Million Over Campus Shooting That Killed 3, Wounded 2

Jun 4 2024 // The University of Virginia will pay $9 million in a settlement related to a 2022 campus shooting that killed three football players and wounded two students, a lawyer representing some of the victims and their families...

Virginia Tech Firm Settles Allegations Over Whites-Only Job Listing

May 30 2024 // A northern Virginia tech company is paying $38,500 to settle claims that it discriminated by posting a job listing seeking white, U.S.-born candidates for an opening as a business analyst.The Justice Department announced...

WV Governor’s Coal Company Settles with BrickStreet Mutual in Payment Dispute

May 28 2024 // The hits keep coming for West Virginia Gov. Jim Justice and his coal companies.The U.S. 4th Circuit Court of Appeals last week agreed to dismiss an appeal brought by Justice’s Southern Coal Corp. against its...

Mars Loses Appeal to Undo Dismissal of COVID-19 Business Loss Claims

May 28 2024 // Petcare, food and candy company Mars Inc. has lost its bid to revive its claims against Factory Mutual Insurance Co. for business interruption losses it incurred during the coronavirus pandemic.The Fourth Circuit Court of...

WV Coal Mine Where Miner Died Had Multiple Safety Violations

May 24 2024 // CHARLESTON, W.Va. (AP) — A coal mine in West Virginia had a long history of safety violations before a miner was fatally injured this week operating an excavator, according to local news reports.Virgil Paynter, of Lynco,...

Virginia Insurance Agent Sentenced for Writing Policies Without Clients’ Consent

May 24 2024 // A Virginia insurance and annuities agent was sentenced to one year and three months years in prison for mail fraud after swindling his employer and clients in multiple schemes.According to court documents, from August 2017...

Gallagher Updates Regulation for Artificial Intelligence

May 22 2024 // Gallagher’s Cyber practice remains laser focused on emerging technology and the potential for increased risks as organizations begin to use them. Throughout 2024, we’re concentrated on evolving compliance...

Virginia Judge to Decide Whether Frozen Embryos Are Property With Monetary Value

May 16 2024 // A trial is underway in Virginia that will determine whether state law allows frozen embryos to be considered property that can be divided up and assigned a monetary value.Fairfax County Circuit Court Judge Dontae Bugg...

Company to Pay $650K Over Child Labor Violations at Meat Processing Facilities

May 8 2024 // DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — A Tennessee-based sanitation company has agreed to pay more than half a million dollars after a federal investigation found it illegally hired at least two dozen children to clean dangerous meat...

Hazing Concerns Prompt University of Virginia to Expel 1 Fraternity, Suspend 3 Others

Apr 30 2024 // Concerns about hazing have prompted the University of Virginia to terminate one local fraternity and suspend three others on its Charlottesville campus, the school said Wednesday.The university said in a statement that the...

Jury Rejects Sex Abuse Claims Against Virginia School System by Former Student

Apr 26 2024 // A jury on Wednesday rejected a woman’s lawsuit seeking tens of millions of dollars from Virginia’s largest school system over allegations that she was raped multiple times as a middle schooler.The woman, who...

Workers’ Comp Apportion Evals Must be Well-Reasoned, WV Supreme Court Says

Apr 24 2024 // West Virginia law, like statutes in a number of states, allows employers to try and apportion contributions to a worker’s injury, including how much a pre-existing condition may have played a role. The...

Coal Miners Getting New Protections Against Black Lung Disease

Apr 18 2024 // Coal miners will be better protected from poisonous silica dust that has contributed to the premature deaths of thousands of mine workers from a respiratory ailment commonly known as black lung disease, the Labor...

Assistant Principal Faces Criminal Charge in Case of 6-Year-Old Who Shot Teacher

Apr 12 2024 // A former assistant principal at a Virginia elementary school has been charged with felony child neglect more than a year after a 6-year-old boy brought a gun to class and shot his first-grade teacher.A special grand jury...