Professional Liability Insurance for Faculty

[spork]

Besides indemnifying one against potential grade lawsuits, and some of the other related issues that have been mentioned here, what if any other reasons might there be for a humanities prof to wish to acquire such insurance?

Faculty member suing faculty member over actions, real or imagined, that occurred in the workplace.

an umbrella policy is likely to cover you, and not just from the issues discussed above

Would umbrella insurance cover this kind of thing?

[. . .]

 it is not included in my umbrella policy. 

[Cheerful]

Given what is now happening with the econ department at James Madison U., I think it's only a matter of time before individual faculty members are sued over grades.

Wow, thanks for mentioning this, spork.  Just looked up the story in the Chronicle.  This news item deserves its own thread for discussion.

A google search indicates that the mainstream media has not picked up this story yet.  They should.  People need to know what's happening.

[kaysixteen]

Yes, faculty members could sue each other.    So could WM cashiers.  How often are any such suits successful, or even get into a court for adjudication?

[spork]

Yes, faculty members could sue each other.    So could WM cashiers.  How often are any such suits successful, or even get into a court for adjudication?

Doesn't matter if attorney's fees are coming out of your pocket.



Looks like folks here don't have much of an understanding of insurance or legal processes. I'll try elsewhere.

[Hibush]

Yes, faculty members could sue each other.    So could WM cashiers.  How often are any such suits successful, or even get into a court for adjudication?

Doesn't matter if attorney's fees are coming out of your pocket.

There is an alterantive for that, prepaid legal service. I can get one through my school: https://www.araglegal.com. There are other providers. The cost was pretty low, but I have not gotten it. Could be an alternative, depending on what one is at risk for.

[Caracal]

Given what is now happening with the econ department at James Madison U., I think it's only a matter of time before individual faculty members are sued over grades.

Wow, thanks for mentioning this, spork.  Just looked up the story in the Chronicle.  This news item deserves its own thread for discussion.

A google search indicates that the mainstream media has not picked up this story yet.  They should.  People need to know what's happening.

What is happening? Not blaming spork or anyone else for wanting to explore the coverage or acquire it, but I just tried googling for "professor sued by student" and there are very, very few hits. Of the handful of examples I found, almost all involved professors doing things that could not reasonably be construed as their job. There's sexual harassment, of course, but also things like a professor who recruited students from their class to erase anti abortion messages in a space designated for free speech. The only case I found involving a grade was ten years ago. In that case, the professor was sued alongside the school and it appears that she was eventually dropped as a defendant. At any rate, there was no separate trial and no separate lawyers as far as I could tell. The judge ruled against the student on the grounds that there was no evidence that the grade was applied based on anything other than the professional judgement of the instructor and that the case law was clear that courts shouldn't become involved in assessing those professional judgement. While that probably wasn't a pleasant experience for the instructor, it doesn't seem like she was on the hook for any legal fees.

[AmLitHist]

This article in IHE today reminded me of this thread--and over the years, I've heard of faculty being sued (or having to spend a lot of time with U counsel to avoid being sued or settle) in most of these situations.

Having the $1M liability insurance, along with access to union lawyers, is what's kept me paying union dues for 20 years (though now that I think of it, that $1M wouldn't go very far today). Still, better to have it and not need it, etc.

[spork]

'Breach of contract': Indian student at Oxford University takes legal action

[kaysixteen]

Does anyone knowledgeable about UK doctoral ed policies wish to comment on whether the woman in question is likely to have a case?  As I read it, I am struck by clear differences between the way PhD programs, admittance to and proceding through, at Oxford seem to differ from American procedures...?

[marshwiggle]

Does anyone knowledgeable about UK doctoral ed policies wish to comment on whether the woman in question is likely to have a case?  As I read it, I am struck by clear differences between the way PhD programs, admittance to and proceding through, at Oxford seem to differ from American procedures...?

A couple of things that seem kind of confusing:

"In November 2021 during an internal assessment process known as confirmation of status in the fourth year of my studies my assessors at Oxford failed me by reasoning in the assessment report that Shakespeare does not have the scope for doctoral level studies," Balakrishnan said.

The Indian student has also alleged that she believes her assessors were "motivated by racial bias" in failing her PhD thesis.

It's not clear to me whether this means they didn't like the topic proposed, or they didn't like the thesis submitted. Those are very different, and the former would seem to be much less of a big deal than the latter.

[Ruralguy]

I would just say that unless you are really exposed to liability in some clear way (adviser to a social fraternity or mountain climbing club, etc.) this is probably not worth it. But I suppose I could just be naive!

[spork]

I would just say that unless you are really exposed to liability in some clear way (adviser to a social fraternity or mountain climbing club, etc.) this is probably not worth it. But I suppose I could just be naive!

A few weeks ago, a federal judge dismissed a former colleague's lawsuit in which other colleagues were individually named defendants, along with the university as a whole. A second lawsuit, filed in state court, is still in process.

This is one of two reasons that I am still interested in professional liability insurance.

[Hibush]

I would just say that unless you are really exposed to liability in some clear way (adviser to a social fraternity or mountain climbing club, etc.) this is probably not worth it. But I suppose I could just be naive!

A few weeks ago, a federal judge dismissed a former colleague's lawsuit in which other colleagues were individually named defendants, along with the university as a whole. A second lawsuit, filed in state court, is still in process.

This is one of two reasons that I am still interested in professional liability insurance.

Would legal insurance serve the purpose as well or better? My school offers it from ARAG, but there are other providers. For a remarkably low premium you get access to their lawyers. They would represent you in cases where someone frivilously includes you in a lawsuit and you need representation, but the likely outcome is that the judge dismisses the suit or removes you as a defendant. That is not a lot of legal demand, but hiring a local lawyer to do just that much could be pricy.
Liability insurance would cover any payments if you lost, but how much legal support do you get to prevent that outcome in the first place?