By Monica M. Minkel

Executive liability programs generally consist of three key insurance products. First is the directors and officers (D&O) liability policy, which is essentially corporate malpractice insurance. A D&O policy will protect the board of directors, officers of the company and the corporate entity itself from acts, errors, omissions, misstatements, misleading statements, breaches of duty and breaches of care by the decision makers of the organization. No private or non-profit company should be without this important coverage. No private or non-profit company should be without this important coverage.

The second key insurance product included in an executive liability package is the employment practices liability (EPL) policy. This pays defense costs and settlement or indemnity expenses on behalf of the organization if an employee, manager or supervisor, board member or officer or the entity itself are targeted in litigation alleging an employment-related tort such as discrimination, sexual harassment, wrongful termination or retaliation. It only takes two employees for a harassment situation to occur, and only one to have a wrongful termination. In the current economy, where jobs are harder
to come by, employment related complaints are up significantly. EPL is a product that most companies will use at some point during their lifecycle.