Employment Practices Liability in the Cannabis industry

Going back to Texaco, Anita Hill, WJC, Baker McKenzie etc. through to present day and including the past 6 years of the #metoo movement (Weinstein Companies, etc); employment practices liability including discrimination, harassment, termination, retaliation, Covid 19, biometrics, failure to hire, invasion of privacy allegations, and so many other perils have been on the minds of corporate leaders. Regardless of the organization being privately held or publicly-traded, the epli world has thousands of covered and uncovered insurance claims against bad actors. Defense costs and indemnity payments are on the rise, and have a major impact on the financial results of an organization. The legal aspects (per State and Federal) for how prospective, current and past employees are treated are evolving and then when issues like third party discrimination (epli) and /or wage & hour issues are factored in, it’s an impactful risk management issue keeping executives, team leaders, colleagues, board members, investors and HR professionals awake at night. Showcasing your company’s controls and management expertise, lack of claims, vs. being lumped in with others because of industry issues or via basic issues like payroll or employee count or number of locations isn’t an effective way to showcase your info to the insurance companies. Also Avoidance has ramifications as does being underinsured or uninsured.