NCCI Criticized In Flag Flap

The National Council on Compensation Insurance faced a Web site attack and a continuing backlash of public reaction last week after their boss issued a memo on Sept. 14 saying that displays of American flags were prohibited by company policy, an edict he later reversed.

The situation developed at the Boca Raton, Fla.-based NCCI during the National Day of Prayer and Remembrance. Flags were reportedly removed from 10 employee cubicles and NCCI President and Chief Executive Officer William Schrempf put out his memo. NCCI said it was part of a longstanding policy to protect employees from divisive political discussion.

On Sept. 17, Mr. Schrempf met employees to announce a reversal of policy and to apologize. Flags and red, white and blue remembrance ribbons were provided to the 850 employees.

The actions failed to appease Georgia Insurance Commissioner John Oxendine, who said: “If they think handing out flags excuses their conduct, thats not the case. They said they are sorry, but that doesnt necessarily excuse what they have done.”

He said his department could decertify NCCI as a rating bureau or take away its job of making assignments for Georgias assigned risk pool. “Its going to take a lot of explaining by their president to not change our relationship,” he said.

Meanwhile, NCCI was coping with the effects of angry public opinion. An NCCI source said that both its internal and external Web sites had been brought down by heavy traffic. “Were getting bombarded,” he said.

Reproduced from National Underwriter Property & Casualty/Risk & Benefits Management Edition, September 21, 2001. Copyright 2001 by The National Underwriter Company in the serial publication. All rights reserved.Copyright in this article as an independent work may be held by the author.

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NCCI Criticized In Flag Flap

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