Hendrickson Insurance
Hendrickson Insurance
Employment Practices Liability Insurance for Florida employers. EPLI covers wrongful termination claims, discrimination, sexual harassment, hostile work environment, retaliation, and other employment-related lawsuits. Florida employees, former employees, and applicants can all sue. EPLI pays defense costs and judgments. Hendrickson Insurance writes EPLI for Florida businesses across Sarasota, Bradenton, Tampa, St. Petersburg, Clearwater, Venice, and Lakewood Ranch.
Claims that you fired someone for an illegal reason: retaliation, discrimination, or in violation of public policy. Even firings done correctly can produce expensive lawsuits.
Race, age, gender, religion, disability, national origin, pregnancy, sexual orientation. Federal Title VII, ADEA, ADA, plus Florida Civil Rights Act claims.
Quid pro quo and hostile work environment claims. Coverage includes both supervisor harassment and coworker harassment claims with employer liability.
Adverse action against an employee for filing a claim, complaining about workplace conditions, or participating in an investigation. Often the easiest claim for plaintiffs to win.
Claims that you denied promotion or advancement opportunity based on a protected characteristic. Common in larger employers with formal promotion processes.
Optional coverage for claims by non-employees (customers, vendors) alleging discrimination or harassment by your employees. Important for retail, hospitality, and service businesses.
Most owners think "employer liability" means the piece of a workers comp policy that covers a lawsuit over a physical injury. That matters, but it is not what sinks Florida businesses. The claims that actually show up are employment practices claims: a fired employee alleging wrongful termination, an applicant claiming discrimination, a current worker reporting harassment or retaliation. Those are EPLI claims, and a standard general liability or workers comp policy does not touch them.
If you employ people anywhere on the Gulf Coast, Sarasota, Bradenton, Tampa, or St. Petersburg, you carry this exposure the day you hire your first employee. It does not take a big company. Small and mid-sized employers get named in EEOC charges and Florida Commission on Human Relations complaints constantly, and defense costs start running whether or not the claim has any merit.
Employer liability and EPLI coverage is priced off your employee count, payroll, industry, and your HR practices. An employer with a current handbook, a written anti-harassment policy, documented discipline, and a clean claim history pays materially less than one without. If your handbook is out of date or has never been reviewed, that is the first thing to fix, and the first thing an underwriter asks about.
We write employer liability and EPLI for Gulf Coast employers as a standalone policy or built into a business owners policy. Call 941-952-7991 with your employee count and payroll and we will tell you straight what it takes to place it.
Physical workplace injury (comp) vs employment-related claims (EPLI) are distinct exposures.
02 / Related CoverageSits above EPLI for catastrophic employment claims.
03 / Related CoverageExecutive-level employment claims often involve both EPLI and D&O.
04 / Related CoverageBenefits administration disputes can produce both EPLI and benefits claims.
EPLI (Employment Practices Liability Insurance) covers claims by current employees, former employees, and applicants alleging wrongful termination, discrimination (race, age, gender, disability, religion), sexual harassment, hostile work environment, retaliation, wage and hour violations (in some forms), failure to promote, and negligent hiring or supervision. EPLI pays defense costs and judgments up to the policy limit.
Florida is a litigious state for employment claims. EEOC charges, Florida Commission on Human Relations complaints, and direct lawsuits against employers happen routinely. Defense costs alone for an employment claim regularly run $50,000 to $250,000 before any settlement or judgment. Most Florida small and mid-sized businesses cannot absorb these costs. EPLI handles the defense from claim notification through resolution.
Call 941-952-7991. Have your employee count, payroll, industry, prior employment claim history, and current HR policy summary (employee handbook, anti-harassment policy) ready. EPLI underwriters look closely at HR practices.
Employer liability insurance protects a business against claims brought by its own employees. It splits two ways: employer's liability inside a workers compensation policy covers lawsuits tied to a physical workplace injury, while EPLI (employment practices liability insurance) covers employment claims like wrongful termination, discrimination, harassment, and retaliation. Most Florida employers need both, because a workers comp policy does not cover employment practices claims.
EPLI is priced off employee count, payroll, industry, prior claims, and your HR practices. A Sarasota or Bradenton small business with a current employee handbook and written anti-harassment policy typically pays a lower rate than one without documented HR practices. Call 941-952-7991 with your headcount and payroll for a real number.
Call 941-952-7991 or schedule online. Quote turnaround typically 24 to 48 hours.
Dennis Hendrickson changed a New Jersey state tennis rule at 17 and played four years of Division I tennis at UNC Charlotte. Today he writes both the commercial and the personal insurance for Gulf Coast owners himself, and he works a renewal or a claim the way he played: nothing conceded, no point given away.
When you apply, he answers. Every application goes straight to Dennis. He reads it himself and responds the same business day in most cases, always within 48 hours.
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