MINUTES CLAIMS & COVERAGE COMMITTEE MEETING OCTOBER 7, 2013 10:00 A.M. THE WESTIN SAN FRANCISCO AIRPORT 1 OLD BAYSHORE HIGHWAY MILLBRAE, CA 94030 (650) 872-8118 I. CALL TO ORDER Chair Wade Ellis called the meeting to order at 10:00 a.m. II. ROLL CALL Those in attendance were: CHAIRPERSON: MT. SAN JACINTO COMMUNITY COLLEGE DISTRICT COMMITTEE MEMBERS: BAY AREA COMMUNITY COLLEGE DISTRICTS JPA CHABOT-LAS POSITAS COMMUNITY COLLEGE DISTRICT COAST COMMUNITY COLLEGE DISTRICT EL CAMINO COMMUNITY COLLEGE DISTRICT LONG BEACH COMMUNITY COLLEGE DISTRICT NORTHERN CALIFORNIA COMMUNITY COLLEGES SIA SAN DIEGO COMMUNITY COLLEGE DISTRICT SANTA CLARITA COMMUNITY COLLEGE DISTRICT SONOMA COUNTY JR. COLLEGE DISTRICT BOARD MEMBERS: SOUTH ORANGE COUNTY COMMUNITY COLLEGE DISTRICT WEST HILLS COMMUNITY COLLEGE DISTRICT MANAGER: KEENAN & ASSOCIATES ABSENT: CITRUS COMMUNITY COLLEGE DISTRICT NORTHERN CALIFORNIA COMMUNITY COLLEGES SIA PASADENA AREA COMMUNITY COLLEGE DISTRICT Wade Ellis, Chair Brigit Espinosa Lorenzo Legaspi Colleen Rymas Thomas Fallo Ann-Marie Gabel Lee Lindsey Kandra Olsen Jon Aasted Doug Roberts Kim McCord Ken Stoppenbrink Bill Poland Tony Hayes Colleen Bjerknes Karen Thesing Eric Guzman, Vice Chair Charo Albarran Joe Simoneschi
Page 2 of 6 SAN JOAQUIN DELTA COMMUNITY COLLEGE DISTRICT SOUTH ORANGE COUNTY COMMUNITY COLLEGE DISTRICT VICTOR VALLEY COMMUNITY COLLEGE DISTRICT Dianna Gonzales Debra Fitzsimons Deedee Orta III. APPROVAL OF AGENDA There were no requested changes to the agenda. COMMITTEE CONSIDERATION: Motion was made by Lorenzo Legaspi, seconded by Jon Aasted, and unanimously carried to approve the agenda as presented. IV. APPROVAL OF MINUTES July 1, 2013 The members provided the JPA Account Manager one grammar correction. None COMMITTEE CONSIDERATION: Motion was made by Ann-Marie Gabel, seconded by Lorenzo Legaspi, and carried to approve the minutes as amended. V. CORRESPONDENCE There was no correspondence to present. None COMMITTEE CONSIDERATION: None VI. VI. CLOSED SESSION In accordance with Government Code Sections 94956.9 and 54956.95, the meeting went into closed session at 10:01 a.m. and came out at 10:39 a.m. OPEN SESSION Chairperson Wade Ellis announced that during closed session coverage opinions were approved as presented, position letters ratified, and all items reviewed as follows: A) SPECIAL CLAIMS CONSIDERATIONS/REQUESTS/APPEALS Nelson-Rayburn, et al. vs. Long Beach CCD: Ann-Marie Gabel of Long Beach CCD answered questions from the Committee and excused herself from the room as the Committee reviewed the claim in detail. After review and discussion the Committee denied Long Beach CCD s appeal. COMMITTEE CONSIDERATION: Motion was made by Thomas Fallo, seconded by Lorenzo Legaspi, and unanimously carried to deny Long Beach CCD s appeal. B) LIABILITY CLAIM SETTLEMENT AUTHORIZATIONS: There were no liability claim settlement authorizations for Committee review. COMMITTEE CONSIDERATION:
Page 3 of 6 C) LOSS RUN/CLAIM REVIEW/CLAIM INCURRED ANALYSIS: The Manager presented and reviewed the new/serious claims from the Claim Incurred Analysis. COMMITTEE CONSIDERATION: Motion was made by Doug Roberts, seconded by Colleen Rymas, and unanimously carried to receive and file the loss run/claim review/claim incurred analysis report as presented. D) CLAIM UPDATES NEW/SERIOUS REPORTS: The following were new reports on claim updates presented for information only on previously discussed cases and do not require any action from the Committee. 1. Jaureguito vs. Feather River CCD 2. Thein vs. Feather River CCD 3. Wartluft vs. Feather River CCD 4. Short vs. South Bay Regional Public Training Consortium to the Bay Areas, et al. COMMITTEE CONSIDERATION: Information only. E) TRIALS The Claims Administrator provided information on pending trials, trial updates and trial results for Committee information. New Pending Trials 1. Daly vs. South Orange County CCD, et al. 2. Webcor Concrete vs. SWACC 3. Doolan vs. Sonoma County Junior College District Trial Updates 1. Alcantara vs. Ventura County CCD 2. Griffifth-Jackson vs. Southwestern CCD 3. Kuhl vs. Mt. San Jacinto CCD Trial Results No Trial Results to present. COMMITTEE CONSIDERATION: Information only. F) COVERAGE OPINIONS The Committee reviewed the below coverage opinions and took action accordingly. 1. Daniel v. Sonoma CCD 2. Glickstein, et al. v. Michael Krause, et al. 3. Jane Roe v. American Databank 4. Taisei v. San Joaquin Delta CCD 5. Schrupp v. Ventura County Community College District COMMITTEE CONSIDERATION: Motion was made by Doug Roberts, seconded by Lorenzo Legaspi, and unanimously carried to approve the Coverage Opinions as presented.
Page 4 of 6 The Claims Administrator presented the following position letters for Committee ratification: 1. Butler v. S. Orange County CCD, et al. 2. Contra Costa County v. Contra Costa CCD, et al. 3. Fantucci v. Napa Valley CCD, et al. 4. Hutchings v. Pasadena Area CCD, et al. 5. Ochoa v. Santa Clarita CCD 6. Patton Sales Corp v. Coast CCD 7. Wilson v. San Diego CCD, et al. 8. HB Parkco v. Santa Monica CCD 9. Soliz, et al. v. Santa Clarita CCD 10. Nelson-Rayburn, et al. v. Long Beach CCD, et al. Ann-Marie Gabel advised the date on the October 8, 2012 letter to Mike Collins regarding Nelson-Rayburn, et al. v. Long Beach CCD needed to be amended to September 25, 2013. COMMITTEE CONSIDERATION: Motion was made by Thomas Fallo, seconded by Bridgit Espinosa, and unanimously carried to ratify the position letters. VIII. PROPERTY CLAIM SETTLEMENT AUTHORIZATION REQUEST(S) 1. South Orange County Community College District COMMITTEE CONSIDERATION: Motion was made by Ann-Marie Gabel, seconded by Lorenzo Legaspi and unanimously carried to approve the property claim settlement authorization request as presented. IX. CLAIMS PAID REPORT The Authority reviewed the following Closed and Settled Claims Report from 6/1/13 8/31/13: Claim # Insured Name Incident Name Type 3909-05-00006 Marin CCD Mize-Kurzman, Pamela GL: EPL 417636 West Valley/Mission CCD Mou, Chin-Li GL: IR 433489 Citrus CCD CSEA GL: GL 420526 Cabrillo CCD Cabrillo CCD FP: Water 437214 Coast CCD Rodriguez, Damien Pazos GL: GL 453064 Marin CCD Kesecker, Charles GL: EPL 439788 El Camino CCD El Camino CCD FP: Water 461754 Lake Tahoe CCD Brinkman, Craig GL: EPL 472299 Citrus CCD Aguirre, Gil GL: IR 476466 Compton CCD Compton CCD FP: Water 482603 Long Beach CCD Vass, Gabor GL: EPL
Page 5 of 6 481929 Yuba CCD Yuba CCD FP: BREM 467998 Shasta-Tehama-Trinity Jt. Shasta-Tehama-Trinity Jt. FP: Fire COMMITTEE CONSIDERATION: Motion was made by Colleen Rymas, seconded by Bridgit Espinosa, and unanimously carried to approve the Claims Paid Report. X. CLAIMS AUDIT REPORT The Manager reported in accordance with the Authority s Claims Audit Policy, an independent external claims audit will be conducted every two years or more frequently if it shall be required. The Authority contracted with Risk Management Services (RMS) to conduct the bi-annual claims audit review, which took place in August 2013. The Manager reported the audit consisted of a pre-audit interview with the JPA Claims Manager. A hard and electronic file audit of 149 open claims and 63 closed claims was conducted. An exit interview was also conducted and included the JPA Claims Manager, JPA Manager, PLCA Branch Manager and Torrance Corporate Claims Management personnel to discuss the audit findings. The Audit stated overall the claims handling for SWACC is done in a manner that benefits the Pool and its members. File handling is complete, proactive, well documented and handled in a professional manner. The largest exposure to SWACC involves employment cases and from the files reviewed, the handling indicates impressive results that provides for low cost resolutions, high success rate in dispositive motions and lower than expected litigation costs. There were no issues identified in the audit that would create a financial impact to SWACC or its Members. The claims handling meets or exceeds generally accepted claims handling standards and CAJPA accreditation standards. COMMITTEE CONSIDERATION: Motion was made by Ann-Marie Gabel, seconded by Colleen Rymas, and unanimously carried to approve the claims audit report as presented. XI. APPROVED DEFENSE ATTORNEY PANEL ANNUAL REVIEW The Manager advised the Authority maintains an Approved Defense Attorney Panel to ensure appropriate legal counsel for the membership while controlling litigation expenses. The Committee policy is to formally review the panel for necessary additions and deletions at their October meeting each year. The Committee reviewed and requested the following changes: Added to the Approved Defense Attorney Panel: Callahan & Blaine-Manager to negotiate rate
Page 6 of 6 Approved the following rate increases: 1. Doumanian & Associates Fee Increase approved as modified: o Partner increase from $165 to $175/hour There was lengthy discussion regarding how the panel is determined and how rates are justified. The Committee asked the Manager to bring back a matrix and process that would better able the Committee to make informed decisions on who should be represented on the panel and how rates should be set. PUBLIC COMMENTS COMMITTEE CONSIDERATION: Motion was made by Ann-Marie Gabel, seconded by Thomas Fallo, and unanimously carried to approve Doumainian & Associates at a fee increase for Partner from $165 to $175/hour and Callahan & Blaine was approved to be added at a rate negotiated by the Manager not to exceed the maximum set rates. XII. INFORMATION REPORTS MEMBER COMMENTS: Thomas Fallo advised we need to work on the Defense Panel and come up with a more efficient way to review the panel on an annual basis. MANAGER COMMENTS: Bill advised that STRS had conducted an Audit at San Francisco CCD and advised they are denying benefits to certain employment classifications. Bill advised the manager is working to get a better understanding of the issues and would report back to the Authority. OTHER COMMENTS: XIII. AGENDA ITEMS NEXT MEETING Next Meeting will be held at 10:00 a.m. on January 6, 2014 in Burlingame, CA. The next regularly scheduled agenda items are: Closed Session Claims XIV. ADJOURNMENT There being no further business to discuss, the meeting was adjourned at 11:30 a.m. Americans With Disabilities Act The Statewide Association of Community Colleges conforms to the protections and prohibitions contained in Section 202 of the Americans With Disabilities Act of 1990 and the federal rules and regulations adopted in implementation thereof. A request for disabilityrelated modification or accommodation, in order to participate in a public meeting of the Statewide Association of Community Colleges, shall be made to: Colleen Bjerknes, Account Manager Keenan & Associates, 2355 Crenshaw Boulevard, Suite 200, Torrance, CA 90501, 310/212-3344 ext. 2614.