Management Liability for Entertainment

Protecting your unique exposures

As an entertainment organization, you have unique corporate liability exposures. You may benefit by transferring some of your operating risk with the placement of a Management Liability insurance policy. Within these Management Liability insurance policies, most companies will generally purchase private company Directors & Officers (D&O) insurance as part of a package that includes Employment Practices Liability (EPL), Fiduciary Liability, and possibly other lines of coverage.

Reducing your risk

The current employee environment may create an opening for changing work behavior that has long been commonplace in the entertainment industry. With limited capacity and tougher underwriting guidelines, it is important for you to minimize risk through:

: Employment Practices exposures in entertainment are very high and providing extensive training can help reduce the overall risk. Most employees on a set need to be certified for certain job functions and obtain the certification by attending specific training. The time may have arrived to add more in-depth Employment Practices training for managers and executives on expected behavior and treatment of production staff, which could reduce instances of bullying and harassment claims.
: Be sure to adopt an Employee Handbook before projects launch and ensure that these handbooks include a code of ethics, employee hotlines, and anti-retaliation provisions. In establishing HR protocols, make sure you have the proper procedures in place for terminations and proper sign-offs for any layoffs. Most employees in entertainment for on-set employment are independent contractors who could still be required to adhere to your handbook.
: Putting in place a mechanism to transfer important employment exposures would help avoid a catastrophic loss to a balance sheet and should be a standard cost of business. If an Employment Practices claim arises, then the defense and settlement would be absorbed by an insurance policy.

Leaders in the entertainment industry must understand and mitigate their employment risks, including those related to bullying tactics. Once this is done, more insurance carriers may widen their guidelines to include entertainment risks as they see changes in employment operations, which will lead to lower rates and retentions.

Risk Strategies Management Liability Practice Group is made up of insurance professionals who understand the limitations of standard Directors & Officers and Employment Practices Liability (EPL) insurance. Knowledgeable and crafted custom coverage is key to effectively protecting against the fall-out of an employee claim — from legal defense costs to the lasting effects of negative publicity or an out-sized jury award.

FAQs

D&O insurance protects directors and officers from claims (and regulatory investigations) that may arise from their service to the organization. While each policy is unique, D&O insurance is intended to pay defense and investigation expenses of covered claims, as well as settlements and court awards. It may also protect you both as a target of claims as well as for the indemnification of its directors and officers.

Employment Practices coverage addresses the large exposures entertainment organizations face from employee-related lawsuits. An increasingly litigious society makes an employment practices liability claim a risk for your business – regardless of size or industry. The range of allegations your business could face is broad, potentially including:

Harassment
Discrimination
Failure to provide equal opportunity of employment
Wrongful termination
Retaliation
Failure to employ or promote
Negligent evaluation
Libel, slander, or humiliation
Infliction of emotional distress
Wrongful failure to provide or enforce corporate policies
Violation of an employee’s civil rights
Third-party liability

These types of claims can not only cripple your organization’s balance sheet but also cause serious reputational damage. Standard policies, procedures, and supervisory training are no longer enough to protect you from the high costs of employment litigation.