In the past year, more than 1,000 Wisconsin companies and non-profits have faced allegations of discrimination, harassment or unfair retaliation against employees. Keep your business safe with Employment Practices Liability Insurance.

Many of them proved unfounded. But that doesn’t stop affected organizations from still facing huge legal costs.

Allegations of sexual harassment, gender discrimination and disputes about working hours hit the headlines virtually every day

And it’s getting worse. Small and medium sized firms are now almost as likely as big organizations to face a discrimination or harassment lawsuit.

Fortunately, there’s a solution that can protect your organization — employee practices liability insurance (or employment practices liability insurance), usually called just EPLI.

And it’s available right here from your independent Wisconsin insurance agency, American Advantage Petersen Insurance.

What is Employee Practices Liability Insurance?

EPLI is a whole suite of protections intended to safeguard you against legal costs and expenses, judgments and settlements arising from claims that you, your business, your directors and officers or even your employees behaved unfairly towards other employees. 

Employment practices liability insurance claim examples include allegations of:

• Sexual harassment
• Discrimination
• Wrongful termination
• Breach of employment contract
• Negligent evaluation
• Failure to employ or promote
• Wrongful discipline
• Deprivation of career opportunity
• Wrongful infliction of emotional distress
• Mismanagement of employee benefit plans
• Working hours disputes

Allegations can even come from job candidates, claiming that they were discriminated in some way in failing to secure employment.

They could also relate to claims of workplace bullying or defamatory remarks made by someone from your organization against an employee.

Why Should My Business Have EPLI Insurance?

 Is employment practices liability insurance necessary? Judge for yourself.

Thousands of Wisconsin businesses and non-profits already have EPLI protection in place. They know the annual premium cost is miniscule compared with the legal and settlement costs faced by uninsured organizations.

They also know that employee practices liability insurance is not covered within a general commercial liability or business owners policy — except if it’s specifically included as a policy endorsement.

Legal costs and settlements can run into tens or even hundreds of thousands of dollars, even for a relatively small case.

Without good EPLI coverage in place, some organizations actually face going out of business — and the smaller the organization, the more exposed it is because of the likelihood that it doesn’t retain its own legal counsel.

What Does EPLI Pay For?

Employment practices liability insurance covers the company or other organization for all legal costs and expenses, right up to and including representation in court, regardless of who wins the case.

If the case goes against you, EPLI may also cover the cost of settlements and judgements but not fines or what are known as punitive damages.

Let American Advantage – Petersen Group Protect You

As an independent agency, we work with all the major Wisconsin insurance companies, which means we can secure the most competitive premium rates for your organization.

We also offer risk management guidance, which helps many of our clients significantly reduce the risk of facing a discrimination or harassment lawsuit.

And, in the event of a lawsuit or other claim, we’re here to help and support you.

Why You Should Act Now

Nationwide, the number of discrimination and harassment cases in soaring, with more than 91,000 complaints lodged with the Equal Opportunity Employment Commission in 2016.

No company is immune and a lawsuit could seriously jeopardize your business, its financial performance and its reputation.

The cost of employment liability insurance depends on many factors, such as the size of your business, number of employees and past legal actions.

For no charge and without any commitment, American Advantage – Petersen Group will answer your questions, review your existing coverage, explore all your options and deliver a fast quote on EPLI insurance for your business.

Contact us now at 262-432-0789 and let us safeguard your future.