VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. — We live in a litigious society. As business owners and business managers of drycleaning operations, you are now, more than ever, at risk for legal action.
Employee lawsuits can be so much more than just an annoyance. They can take away from productivity, team morale, and can distract your management team from functioning optimally — and can cost you a lot of money.
Did you know that in the last 20 years, employee discrimination lawsuits have risen by approximately 400%?
Moreover, close to 50% of these lawsuits are not against large businesses, but are rather targeted at small businesses with 100 or fewer employees.
Did you know that the average timeline to resolve an employee discrimination claim is a year and a half to two years?
Overall, the average cost of one employment liability claim to your business for court and legal fees at trial ranges from $150,000 to $200,000.
Employment practices liability insurance (EPLI) protects businesses and owners/managers from this intangible threat. EPLI claims can stem from claims of emotional distress from your employees to a wrongful failure to employ/promote, to assault and battery at the workplace.
EPLI coverage helps protect drycleaning operations from claims of discrimination based on wage and hour claims, gender pay differences, and discrimination due to race, color, religion, sexual orientation, disability or age.
From perceived discrimination to legitimate concerns, the risk of your drycleaning store facing a lawsuit is an ever-growing threat.
Most business owners would admit that carrying insurance on their business is a necessity. However, a small percentage of business owners take the necessary steps to actually protect their business from this risk.
A client recently faced this exact situation. As the owner of a large drycleaning chain, the client had an employee bring a lawsuit that accused the company of discrimination. The client had to go through the court hearing process, retain an attorney and file copious amounts of paperwork.
Luckily for that company, the claim was not awarded to the employee due to a record of similar lawsuits being filed at previous places of employment. However, this experience served as a wake-up call and the client decided to get an EPLI policy to protect it from future instances of this exposure.
Check back Thursday for the conclusion.
Have a question or comment? E-mail our editor Dave Davis at [email protected].