Workers' Comp Ruling
San Francisco Superior Court ruled in favor of the California State Compensation Insurance Fund in a suit stemming from the workers’ compensation premiums that the insurer charged in the late ’80s and early ’90s. The $2 billion class-action lawsuit, filed on behalf of nearly 164,000 policyholders, claimed the nonprofit insurance carrier artificially inflated its premiums between 1987 and 1994 in an effort to build additional cash reserves to undercut competitors. The fund is considered the state’s insurer of last resort. The decision comes at a time when regulators are concerned the fund’s reserves are too low.
