Declarations

“It’s pretty expensive, and you’d feel stupid if they stopped the fire before it got close. But I’m really glad we did it. It was pretty nerve-wracking when the flames came down the slope.”

— Martin Diky panicked as a huge wildfire started racing down a slope toward his wooden house near Lake Tahoe, and then he decided to wrap his mountain home with an aluminum protective covering. He was one of several residents in the line of fire who have made such an investment.

“To prepare to meet these significant challenges, the survey will provide data to better understand these growing threats and protect consumers from climate-related loss.”

— Connecticut Insurance Commissioner Andrew N. Mais said in a Connecticut Insurance Department press release regarding its latest release of a national survey on climate risk in the insurance industry. The survey allows insurers to report on climate-related risks and opportunities that provide the department with additional information to evaluate insurance company risks and activities.

“Denying a reasonable accommodation and terminating an employee because of her disability clearly violates the ADA at any time.”

— Marcus G. Keegan, a regional attorney for the EEOC’s Atlantic District Office, said in a lawsuit that ISS Facility Services Inc. violated the Americans with Disabilities act by denying its employee’s reasonable request to work remotely in June 2020 and then firing the employee for requesting it. A health and safety manager at ISS’s Takeda facility in Covington, Georgia, had made the request. The case is the first lawsuit the EEOC has filed about a request for an ADA accommodation related to COVID-19.

“What I would do is find that they are not in compliance with a lawful order that I have issued and take action to suspend their license, which is unlikely, or fine them, which is more likely, for their failure to comply.”

— Louisiana Insurance Commissioner Jim Donelon said, referring to insurer State Farm’s indication that it would not comply with the commissioner’s emergency directive instructing insurers to cover the temporary living expenses of Louisiana policyholders who evacuated during Hurricane Ida. The Louisiana Illuminator reported that Donelon made the comment during a virtual town hall discussion hosted by the Advocate.

“We want people to know they are being watched. … That’s why we have signs and a flashing light.”

— Thomas Sawyer, a retired St. Louis police detective, comments on the face recognition system at an Illinois MotoMart store. Sawyer and a group of former and active law enforcement officers co-founded Blue Line Technology LLC, which created the MotoMart system. It is designed to protect privacy with tamper-proof software that prohibits owners from importing or exporting biometric data involving any outside source, Sawyer said.

“We have proactively taken our systems offline to contain the threat, and we can confirm it has been successfully contained. … We also quickly notified law enforcement and are working closely with data security experts to investigate and remediate the situation.”

— Iowa-based farm services provider NEW Cooperative Inc. said in a statement that its systems were offline to contain a “cybersecurity” incident just as the U.S. farm belt gears up for harvest. The cooperative operates grain storage elevators in the top U.S. corn producing state, buys crops from farmers, sells fertilizer and other chemicals needed to grow crops and owns technology platforms for farmers that provide agronomic advice on the way to maximize their harvests.