Allstate fights back with countersuit against agents. (Companies).Allstate Corp. has fired the latest volley in a long-running employment dispute by countersuing 28 current and former agents, accusing them of committing fraud in taking legal action against the company after signing release-and-waiver agreements. In its counterclaim filed March 11 in U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Allstate says the agents misrepresented their intentions, acted unfairly and were unjustly enriched by their actions, causing the company to provide them with the interest in their books of business, as well as benefits and payments, in exchange for signing the agreements. The Northbrook, I11.-based insurer has requested compensatory, punitive and other damages. The agents filed their lawsuit against the company in the same court in August 2001, claiming the insurer unfairly terminated about 6,400 agents in 2000 and violated federal employment-practices regulations. They are seeking class-action status. Their complaint--which names Allstate Insurance Co., Allstate Corp. and Edward M. Liddy Edward M. Liddy is Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer of The Allstate Corporation. He is currently on the Board of 3M, Goldman Sachs and The Kroger Company. • • , president, chairman and chief executive officer--seeks injunctive relief injunctive relief n. a court-ordered act or prohibition against an act or condition which has been requested, and sometimes granted, in a petition to the court for an injunction. and monetary compensation estimated "in the hundreds of millions of dollars?' Allstate spokesman Michael Trevino said the company normally doesn't file counterclaims in employment litigation An action brought in court to enforce a particular right. The act or process of bringing a lawsuit in and of itself; a judicial contest; any dispute. When a person begins a civil lawsuit, the person enters into a process called litigation. . Michael Lieder of Sprenger & Lang PLLC PLLC Professional Limited Liability Company PLLC Polk Life and Learning Center (Bartow, FL) PLLC Partners of Limited Liability Corporation of Washington, D.C., one of the attorneys representing the plaintiffs, said the countersuit coun·ter·sue tr.v. coun·ter·sued, coun·ter·su·ing, coun·ter·sues Law To bring proceedings against (a plaintiff) in direct opposition to a suit brought against onself. is "quite unusual--this is the first time this has happened in our experience." The agents allege that Allstate violated federal regulations under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act The Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA), 29 U.S.C.A. § 1001 et seq. (1974), is a federal law that sets minimum standards for most voluntarily established Pension and health plans in private industry to provide protection for individuals enrolled in these plans. and the Age Discrimination in Employment Act The Age Discrimination in Employment Act of 1967, Pub. L. No. 90-202, 81 Stat. 602 (Dec. 15, 1967), codified as Chapter 14 of Title 29 of the United States Code, through (ADEA), prohibits employment discrimination against persons 40 years of age or older in the United States (see ). , as well as Allstate's contractual and fiduciary duties. The agents contend that the plan to convert the agency force to independent contractors was designed to eliminate about 6,000 agents over age 40. Allstate has long maintained that its strategy was fair. "It's been a common practice in American business to utilize release-and-waiver agreements in these kinds of situations where positions are eliminated," Trevino said. |
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