Newsboys Abuse Suits Not NY WC Matter

Three lawsuits brought in New York state by former newspaper delivery boys alleging they were sexually abused by a supervisor and a co-worker in the 1980s have been ruled to be the responsibility of the Empire State’s civil courts rather than the New York Workers’ Compensation Board (WCB).
A state Supreme Court appellate division on July 26 unanimously overruled the Monroe County Supreme Court and remanded the lawsuits back to it after the lower court had deferred to the WCB and put the cases on hold while awaiting an answer.
The lower court will now likely decide whether the plaintiffs are are limited to benefits under the New York workers’ compensation law or if they are entitled to seek damages, according to the appellate ruling.
The plaintiffs are seeking damages under the state’s Child Victims Act arising from their employment delivering newspapers for the Rochester Democrat & Chronicle.
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AM Best has revised its outlooks on Stonetrust Commercial Insurance Company and Stonetrust Premier Casualty Insurance Company to positive from stable.
The rating agency assigned a financial strength rating of A- (Excellent) and a long-term issuer credit ratings of “a-” (Excellent)
“The revised outlooks to positive from stable reflect favorable trends in Stonetrust’s operating performance that have outperformed the workers’ compensation composite in key metrics on a five- and 10-year basis,” AM Best said.
They said the Stonetrust group’s business profile was limited based on its workers’ compensation book of business, as it operates primarily in Louisiana and several other states.
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Chubb said its workers comp business in the second-quarter saw pricing increase 4.2%, with rates up 1.6% and exposure up 2.6%, according to the transcript of management’s July 24 earnings call.
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Insurance holding company Donegal Group said last week that its workers compensation net premiums written declined in the second quarter to $27.6 million versus $27.7 million written in the comparable year-earlier period.
Its WC statutory combined ratio for the three months ended June 30, 2024 was 117.0% compared to 95.7% a year earlier.
The loss ratio for the line was 65.2%, versus 52.7%.
“Our insurance subsidiaries experienced favorable development primarily in the commercial automobile line of business, largely offset by adverse development in workers’ compensation that we primarily attribute to higher-than-anticipated case reserve development,” management said in the company’s earnings announcement.
Workers’ comp premiums comprised 12% of its 2023 net premiums written, according to its July 25 presentation to investors.
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HR solutions provider TriNet Group said that its second-quarter performance of its workers comp business was favorable and exceeded expectations, according to a transcript of management’s July 26 earnings call.
“Our workers’ comp program management remains strong, including our ability to price, reserve and manage our claims,” Kelly Lee Tuminelli, EVP & CFO, told analysts. “Expenses declined year-over-year as we prudently managed our resources across the business.”
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