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US Supreme Court to Hear Case on Starbucks Firing Pro-Union Workers in Tennessee

Article 0 Comments (Reuters) – The U.S. Supreme Court on Friday agreed to hear a challenge by Starbucks to a judicial decision that required the coffee chain to rehire seven employees at one of its cafes in Memphis, Tennessee who a federal agency determined were fired for supporting unionization. The justices took up a Starbucks appeal of a lower court’s ruling that found that the company likely discouraged other employees from exercising their rights under U.S. labor law by firing the Memphis workers in 2022. This is the first case to reach the Supreme Court involving an ongoing nationwide campaign to unionize Starbucks stores. Topics USA Tennessee Was this article valuable? Thank you! Please tell us what we can do to improve this article. Submit No Thanks Thank you! % of people found this article valuable. Please tell us what you liked about it. Submit No Thanks Here are more articles you may enjoy. The most important insurance news,in your inbox every business day. Get the insurance industry’s trusted newsletter

10 major causes of distracted driving 0

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10 major causes of distracted driving

Whether you’re driving professionally or on your own time, minimizing these causes of driving distracted can help save lives Toronto, ON (Dec. 19, 2023) – Understanding that drivers are human and can create a number of risks on the road, some tech companies and auto manufacturers are working to make self-driving cars a reality (though there has been much discussion and debate about potential dangers of this advancing technology). Until these vehicles become more proven and widely available, though, distracted driving will continue to be a major contributor to vehicle crash-related injuries and deaths. Although states and the federal government enact and enforce laws to limit cellphone use and prohibit texting while driving, employers also have a responsibility to address causes of distracted driving in their fleets. Even where companies have policies pertaining to mobile phone use, these guidelines may not go far enough to address the full causes of distracted driving. Whether you employ drivers or simply want to help protect employees who travel to work every day, raising awareness of common causes of distracted driving can help reduce risks … and maybe even prevent a tragedy. Common distractions while driving: 1. Talking on cellphones While there may be...

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Ukraine in Talks With Marsh on War Risk Insurance for Air Transport

Article 0 Comments Ukraine is discussing military risk insurance for air transportation with insurance broker Marsh and consulting firm Oliver Wyman, Ukraine’s National Security and Defense Council said on Friday. Air traffic over Ukraine has been suspended since Russia’s full-scale invasion in February 2022. But Kyiv wants to reopen Boryspil International Airport just outside the capital as soon as possible once conditions permit, which it sees as a victory for Ukraine’s economy. A statement on the defense council’s website said it had held talks about “further steps of cooperation on military risk insurance in air transportation and business travel to Ukraine, as well as large-scale investment insurance in the reconstruction.” It did not provide additional details. Reuters contacted Marsh for comment. Marsh with other insurers and Ukrainian state banks already runs a war risk ship insurance program aimed at cutting costs of claims for damage to ships transporting grain through the Black Sea corridor, set by Kyiv to circumvent a de facto Russian blockade in the sea. In December, Boryspil airport saw the departure of a Boeing 777-300 on a technical flight, a sign Ukraine’s infrastructure remains in working condition and safety can be granted despite constant Russian air attacks....

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Judge Limits Delaware’s Sweeping Climate Change Lawsuit Against Fossil Fuel Companies

Article 0 Comments A judge has rejected several claims lodged by Delaware’s attorney general in a lawsuit alleging that the fossil fuel industry has downplayed the risks of climate change. Tuesday’s ruling significantly narrows the scope of the suit seeking to hold the industry liable for the effects of air pollution in the state. Democratic Attorney General Kathleen Jennings filed the lawsuit in 2020, joining forces with a California law firm that has sued the oil industry on behalf of other state and local governments. While refusing to dismiss come claims, Superior Court Judge Mary Johnston ruled, for example, that the federal Clean Air Act preempts the state’s claims seeking damages for injuries resulting from out-of-state or global greenhouse emissions and interstate pollution. However, Johnston noted that the Clean Air Act doesn’t preempt alleged claims and damages resulting from air pollution originating from sources within Delaware. “Air pollution prevention and control at the source is the primary responsibility of state and local governments,” she wrote. Theodore Boutrous Jr., an attorney representing Chevron Corp., said he was pleased that Johnston recognized that claims regarding out-of-state or global greenhouse emissions and interstate pollution are preempted by the Clean Air Act. “The global...

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A New Year, and a New ‘Advisor-Driven Experience’ at Orion

It was a little more than three months ago that Natalie Wolfsen took the helm at Orion as CEO, inheriting the reins from Eric Clarke, the firm’s founder and longtime chief executive officer, at a pivotal moment for the financial services technology company. Under Clarke’s leadership, Orion completed seven major acquisitions between 2018 and 2022, including those of Brinker Capital and Redtail Technology. The goal of the big-ticket acquisitions, Clarke has explained, was to enable thousands of advisors to achieve independence and “go out there as true fiduciaries, supported by the technology they need to serve a significant number of households at scale.” Now, in a new interview with ThinkAdvisor, Wolfsen said that vision is quickly becoming a reality, with the firm’s developers and product team working to break down internal silos and create a unified platform that brings together all the aspects of a modern advisor’s practice — across investments, client relationship management, operations, compliance and more. Wolfsen was joined in the conversation by her colleague Brian McLaughlin, president of Orion Advisor Technology. Before Orion’s acquisition in June 2022, McLaughlin was the CEO and co-founder of Redtail. Ultimately, according to the duo, 2024 is an important and exciting year for...

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Vanguard Blocks Spot Bitcoin ETFs From Its Trading Platform

What You Need to Know The new funds don’t align with Vanguard’s focus, the company says. Merrill and UBS and confirmed they were making spot bitcoin ETFs available to certain clients; Wells Fargo says they’re on its WellsTrade platform. Dennis Kelleher of Better Markets cheered Vanguard’s decision. Investors won’t be able to buy the newly approved spot bitcoin ETFs through Vanguard Group, a spokesperson confirmed Thursday, saying the products don’t fit with the fund giant’s focus. Social media users indicated Merrill Lynch also was prohibiting customers from investing in the new funds Thursday, when the ETFs started trading; a Merrill spokesperson indicated Friday, however, that the company would open access for certain clients later in the day. The Securities and Exchange Commission made a landmark decision this week to approve the country’s first 11 ETFs investing in bitcoin. Fidelity, BlackRock, Franklin Templeton, ARK Investment Management, WisdomTree and Grayscale are among the firms offering the new ETFs. Vanguard, in contrast, didn’t pursue permission to market a spot bitcoin ETF.  “While we continuously evaluate our brokerage offer and evaluate new product entries to the market, spot Bitcoin ETFs will not be available for purchase on the Vanguard platform. We also have no...

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FINRA Sees Spike in ‘Investment Group’ Frauds on Social Media

The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority says it’s seeing a “significant spike” in investor complaints of recommendations made by fraudulent “investment groups” promoted through social media channels. Complaints received by FINRA and posted on social media “describe bad actors, posing as registered investment advisers, who initially advertise ‘stock investment groups’ on Instagram and other social media channels and then turn to encrypted group chats on WhatsApp to communicate with interested investors and pitch investments.” Since November, FINRA said that it has received “nearly a dozen investor complaints regarding this threat, alleging millions of dollars in total losses.” As with other broker imposter scams, FINRA states that “the bad actors might falsely portray themselves as registered professionals, in some recent cases fraudulently claiming affiliation with well-known public figures and others in the investment industry — people who are not involved in the scheme.” The scammers, FINRA states, “also create fake personas by taking the name and other publicly available details about a registered investment professional with a spotless disciplinary history. They then misuse this information to establish legitimacy, unbeknownst to the actual investment professional being impersonated.” Scammers, according to FINRA, “start out by promoting investment in a well-known, actively traded stock and then,...

CBN Announces Newest Member 0

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CBN Announces Newest Member

CBN Announces 2024 Membership Expansion with Addition of its Newest Member Toronto, ON (Jan. 10, 2024) – Canadian Broker Network (CBN), Canada’s leading network of independent insurance brokers, is pleased to announce its 2024 membership expansion. To our CBN member community, we welcome our newest addition: Keyes Insurance (Halifax, NS). As new members in our network, they keep the freedom of operating on their own but add the power and potential from their CBN peers, their new strategic partners. “We are excited they chose CBN and have joined our expanding CBN community”, says Andrew Kemp, Chairman of CBN. The Canadian Broker Network is continuing with its growth plans. “If you’re an independent broker looking for a competitive advantage and industry scale and you meet our membership criteria, we’d like to hear from you. Please contact us to learn more about CBN and how we support our members as the Voice of Independent Brokers”, says Lorie Phair, President of CBN. About the Canadian Broker Network Canadian Broker Network (CBN) is an alliance of leading independent insurance brokerages representing more than $2.5 billion in property casualty premiums, as well as employee benefits and life and financial services, with over 100 offices across...

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Avalanche Killed 1, Injured 3 at Popular California Ski Resort

Article 0 Comments An avalanche roared through a section of expert trails at a California ski resort near Lake Tahoe on Wednesday, sweeping up four people and killing one, as a major storm with snow and gusty winds moved into the region, authorities said. The avalanche occurred about 9:30 a.m. and prompted Palisades Tahoe to close as search crews combed the area under the K-22 lift, which 30 minutes earlier had opened for the first time this season. It serves “black diamond” runs for skilled skiers and snowboarders. Skier Mark Sponsler said he arrived at the KT-22 lift amid howling winds and white-out conditions to find it shut down. Unbeknownst to him, the avalanche had just hit. He spoke to someone who was in the second group to ride up the lift that morning. That person was in the lift and watched the disaster from above, said Sponsler, a veteran weather forecaster and founder of stormsurf.com. “There was screaming, there were skis and poles and a hand sticking up out of the snow,” Sponsler said the witness told him. The avalanche debris field spanned about 150 feet wide, 450 feet long and 10 feet deep, the sheriff’s office said. “This...

2024 And Beyond: Change Becomes Non-Negotiable 0

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2024 And Beyond: Change Becomes Non-Negotiable

by Stephen Applebaum and Alan Demers — We cannot imagine a riskier undertaking than predicting the future given the totally unforeseeable events of recent years, the current state of the insurance industry and the world in general. On the other hand, there are some basic principles that help guide us through the exercise. In addition, we have hedged our prediction by widening our guidance to not just 2024 but also to the near future. Change Becomes a Constant The one thing we can count on is that very few of yesterday’s approaches will be successful in tomorrow’s world. As they say, the only constant now is change. It has become non-negotiable. Technology, especially AI, will be a major driver. Insurers Breaks Out of its Bubble Insurers cannot continue to operate in a bubble. Other segments of financial services and industries have already realized that diversification, partnerships, and bold innovation are critical to success – and perhaps even survival. This is especially evident in bottom line under-performance of P&C insurers. Technology Moves Beyond Enabler It has become clear that technology is much more than just an enabler but rather is quickly becoming the life blood of all commercial undertakings. Those who...