Rideshare giant Uber is liable for the behavior of a driver who grabbed the inner thigh of a passenger as she was leaving the front seat of his car and asked if he could “keep her” with him, a jury in North Carolina found Monday. The federal jury in Charlotte awarded the plaintiff $5,000 in damages, said Ellyn Hurd, one of the plaintiff’s lawyers. The so-called bellwether case is part of a broader group of sexual assault lawsuits filed against Uber in multiple jurisdictions around the country and is the third to go to trial. In February, a federal jury…
Author: Awais
A Travis County district judge has temporarily lifted a statewide ban on the sale of natural smokeable hemp products, such as flower buds and rolled joints, until at least April 28. Judge Maya Guerra Gamble granted the Texas Hemp Business Council, Hemp Industry & Farmers of America, and several Texas-based dispensaries and manufacturers a temporary restraining order against new testing requirements that creates 0.3% total THC threshold, effectively eliminating smokeable products. Lawyers for the hemp industry argued that the agencies have overstepped their constitutional authority by rewriting the statutory definitions of hemp established by lawmakers in 2019. A hearing on…
World Insurance Associates LLC reports that it acquired the business of Baldon Insurance Group of Patchogue, New York. Terms of the January 1, 2026 transaction were not disclosed. Baldon, which was established in 2000, is a Long Island independent agency with a focus on New York’s commercial insurance market for hospitality operators, real estate investors and construction businesses. “We are happy to be joining World, a company that has a wide variety of products and services we can now offer to our clients,” stated Tom Donahue, owner of Baldon Insurance Group. World Insurance, based in Iselin, New Jersey, is ranked…
Broker Aon states that intensifying flood and drought patterns are reshaping risk profiles across global insurance and reinsurance markets, according to its 2026 Climate and Catastrophe Insight (CCI) report.The firm’s CCI report, which draws on Aon’s catastrophe data and forward-looking climate modelling, underscores that physical climate risks are continuing to change, with implications for communities, policymakers and insurers. The broker estimates that global economic losses from flooding exceeded $42 billion in 2025, contributing to a cumulative total of approximately $2 trillion since 2000. At the same time, Aon also identifies that drought is emerging as a major driver of secondary…
The data, compiled by the Brookings Center on Health Policy, shows that average prices for some services like imaging were seven-times higher than Medicare prices.
The hidden drivers of disaster losses force a rethink in re/insurance modeling, says Gallagher Re science chief
Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton filed a lawsuit against two California-based online kratom retailers for deceptively marketing and selling synthetic kratom products and adulterated products that are up to 96% 7-hydroxymitragynine (“7-OH”). According to the lawsuit, that is nearly fifty times the legal limit allowed under Texas law. The lawsuit is a part of an initiative by Attorney General Paxton to limit unlawful distribution of adulterated and contaminated kratom products across Texas. To protect consumers from the dangers of synthetic alkaloids and adulterated kratom products containing dangerous levels of 7-OH, the Texas Legislature enacted the Texas Kratom Consumer Health and…
Newfoundland and Labrador Observes DST. Clocks go forward at 02:00 Newfoundland Standard Time (NST) on the second Sunday in March and back at 02:00 Newfoundland Daylight Time (NDT) on the first Sunday in November. No specific provincial exceptions noted in the federal table. National Research Council Canada, “Time zones and daylight saving time” (Newfoundland row). Nova Scotia Observes DST. Clocks change at 02:00 Atlantic Standard Time (AST) in March and 02:00 Atlantic Daylight Time (ADT) in November, on the North American standard dates (second Sunday…
Not long ago, Nebraska’s growth was quite literally a national cover story. Nebraska Gov. Pete Ricketts soared through the air wearing skis and goggles on the Olympic-themed March 2018 cover of Site Selection, an economic development industry magazine. The cartoon image illustrated Nebraska’s high-flying, three-year run as winner of the “Governor’s Cup,” awarded to the state landing the most economic development projects per capita in the nation. But when Site Selection last month named the top development states for 2025, Nebraska was nowhere to be found. It didn’t crack the magazine’s top 10 at all, the second straight year it…
As artificial intelligence and automation become faster and more precise, insurance industry leaders are finding that the differentiator isn’t just better technology but how the people behind the technology are using it. That’s according to experts at InsurTech New York’s annual spring conference, held this year in March. “It’s an art,” said Gaurav Vasisht, executive director and CEO of The New York State Insurance Fund. “We believe that in the end, data and analytics getting you better insights to make better decisions means using the analytics in the right way.” Gaurav Vasisht He explained that advanced tools, analytics and models…
Three Georgia State Patrol troopers and their supervisor have been let go after officers’ hot pursuits reportedly turned into cold cash from fleeing suspects’ auto insurance companies. News sites around the state reported that an internal investigation found the officers, in the Savannah area, had teamed up with a lawyer to send demand letters to suspects’ insurance carriers, claiming the troopers were injured after pursuing vehicles or performing “PIT” maneuvers—precision immobilization techniques or bumper bumps—that send fleeing vehicles out of control. The State Patrol office did not immediately respond to a request for information from Insurance Journal, but news outlets…
California Attorney General Rob Bonta is suing the City of Poway alleging it violated the California Environmental Quality Act by failing to respond to discoveries of burials of ancestral human remains and cultural resources during the construction of a luxury housing project. Developer Shea Homes began construction of “Hidden Valley Ranch” in October 2025, but it quickly encountered ancestral remains and other culturally important Tribal resources on land the San Pasqual Band of Mission Indians believes is likely a Tribal cemetery and sacred place, according to the California Department of Justice. A CEQA environmental impact report was completed for the…
EverPeak Insurance launched a new multi-state feature that eliminates multi-jurisdictional friction for mobile workforces. Effective April 21, the new feature allows brokers to secure workers’ compensation coverage across 17 states in a single, 30-second digital workflow. The feature addresses a long-standing broker pain point: the administrative burden of piecing together separate policies for businesses with employees crossing state lines. According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, 35.5 million Americans work remotely. By automating the multi-state process, EverPeak allows brokers to instantly secure coverage for mobile workforces that were previously considered unprofitable or difficult to place due to cross-state regulatory…
Although insurance-linked securities (ILS) and reinsurance have traditionally involved multiple parties, the supporting infrastructure for both has continued to be disjointed. In light of this, the concept of a shared platform and a cohesive data layer for contracts would not merely enhance efficiency; it would also establish a foundation for alignment and trust throughout the entire transaction lifecycle, according to Umair Rasool, General Manager, Korra.Korra was launched last year by Ledger Investing, an insurance technology (insurtech) and casualty ILS specialist. Korra connects insurers, managing general agents (MGAs), reinsurers, and institutional investors through an integrated suite of applications and AI-driven workflows…