EEOC, Allstate Talks Called Off.(Equal Employment Opportunity Commission says there is no point in talking over suit filed by over 300 Allstate Corp. agents)(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)

National Underwriter Property & Casualty-Risk & Benefits Management, February, 2001 by RUQUET, MARK E.

Allstate Corp. announced last week that talks between the insurer and the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission over complaints filed by the company's agents has ended. In a press release, the Northbrook, Ill.-based company said it has been advised by the EEOC that talks "will likely be unsuccessful." The complaint filed by more than 300 current and former Allstate agents charges that it was illegal for the company to require the agents to sign a waiver not to sue the insurer in order to remain with Allstate as independent contractors.

The complaint stems from Allstate's decision in 1999 to reorganize its 15,000 agency workforce into a single independent contractor program. The 6,500 employee agents affected by the reorganization were given the...

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