Since its introduction as a stand-alone product in 1992, employment practices liability insurance (EPLI) has become increasingly mainstream. Its acceptance has mirrored the growth of employment-related claims before the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission and in the courts, and the coverage itself has evolved to fit the nature of the claims. Coverage has expanded to more “named perils”–retaliation, negligent hiring, whistleblowers. This “really just kind of track[s] the claims trends that we’re seeing in the courts, following what the plaintiffs’ bar is pleading,” said Judith McElya, senior vice president of Aon Risk Services�Financial Services Group, a retail insurance broker based in Houston.
“If you’re an employer, you should have EPLI, if you can at all afford it,” said Chrys A. Martin, of Bullivant Houser Bailey, Portland, Or., former chair of the employment law committee of the Defense Research Institute, a national organization of defense attorneys.
