Declarations
“A perfect storm of record-high replacement costs, increased frequency and severity of collisions, and an economic outlook that suggests this situation won’t change anytime soon is forcing a major industry disruption.”
— Marty Ellingsworth, executive managing director of property/casualty insurance intelligence at J.D. Power, said as he attributed the findings in its latest survey, J.D. Power 2022 U.S. Insurance Shopping Study. The study found that auto insurance customer satisfaction with price has plummeted, driving a surge in policy shopping activity. The average overall satisfaction score among auto insurance shoppers is 862 on a 1,000 point scale, down six points from a year ago, J.D. Power said.
“They did find here that the reporter had, in their words, purposefully avoided the truth by not making some obvious inquiries.”
— News media lawyer Herschel Fink on a Michigan court that reinstated a lawsuit by a college gymnastics coach who claims he was defamed on Twitter by an ESPN reporter linking him to disgraced sports doctor Larry Nassar and a controversial coach. The court found a lack of “minimal due diligence” by investigative reporter Dan Murphy when he referred on Twitter in 2019 to Jerry Reighard, who coached women’s gymnastics at Central Michigan University, as a “close friend” of Nassar. Reighard was fired by CMU, which had accused him of disregarding medical staff in injuries.
“In reality, Google deceptively collects an array of personal data even when a user has engaged Incognito mode.”
— An amended privacy lawsuit filed by Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton claims the Google search engine collects data on users who think they can be anonymous if they use a “private browsing” mode. Paxton’s filing adds Google’s Incognito mode to the lawsuit filed in January. Incognito mode or “private browsing” is a web browser function that Paxton said implies Google will not track search history or location activity. Paxton previously alleged Google misled consumers by continuing to track their location even when users sought to prevent it.
“My administration will hold any employer accountable, regardless of how big or small, if they do not treat their workers with the dignity and respect they deserve.”
— New York Governor Kathy Hochul said as the state’s division on human rights filed a complaint against Amazon.com Inc. accusing the online retailer of discriminating against pregnant and disabled workers at its worksites. Amazon was also accused of having policies requiring workers to take unpaid leaves of absence, even if they are capable of working, instead of providing reasonable accommodations. The Amazon complaint seeks unspecified civil fines and penalties, improved training, and new policies governing the review of requests for reasonable accommodations.
“I didn’t realize how vulnerable it was.”
— Ralph Patricelli, the owner of an Outer Banks, North Carolina, beach house that was caught on video being swallowed by the sea. The home in Rodanthe, North Carolina, on Cape Hatteras, is the third property in that area to collapse into the waves this year, as beach erosion eats away at waterfront structures. The 1,485-square foot house had been purchased only last summer, by a real estate agent, for an estimated $550,000. The May 9 collapse came after a storm battered the Outer Banks, but experts have said it’s not the first and won’t be the last as climate change takes hold.
“This will likely translate to a very challenging fire season. The fires that start in these regions will be very hard to suppress.”
— Mike Shaw, fire chief with the Oregon Department of Forestry, said the state is poised for a potentially challenging wildfire season, despite a wet and cool spring in much of western Oregon.