Beacon Mutual Suit Granted Class-Action Status

A judge has granted class-action status to plaintiffs suing the Beacon Mutual Insurance Co. for inequitably distributing $101 million in dividends among policy holders.

Judge Michael Silverstein said in his ruling that Beacon Mutual “engaged in a systematic scheme to divert over $101 million to a small percent of its policy holders.”

The suit dates to 2002.

Beacon is the state’s dominant workers’ compensation issuer, with about 11,000 policy holders. There are six named plaintiffs in the lawsuit.

A Beacon Mutual spokesman tells The Providence Journal that the company will “continue to mount a vigorous defense” and says the $101 million figure claimed by the plaintiff is baseless.