Employment Practices Liability Insurance (EPLI) coverage responds to allegations such as wrongful termination, pregnancy discrimination (the most common allegation in the veterinary industry), retaliation, and sexual harassment, including allegations from third parties. These are some of the most common claims against veterinary practices.
Is your practice protected?
Would you practice veterinary medicine without malpractice coverage? Would you operate your practice without general liability insurance? Or without a workers' compensation policy? Of course not. But too often veterinary practices are missing an as-important protection: EPLI.
With this critical coverage from the AVMA Trust, your practice receives:
A Two-Year Rate-Lock Guarantee
Stability for your business with a guaranteed rate for two years
Human Resource Training
State-approved human resource training and access to Beyond HR, an online training platform
Legal Assistance
Access to employment attorneys from your state who understand local, state, and federal laws free of charge
Disappearing Retention
If your practice is free of claims, your retention may reduce to zero over time (available in certain states)
The AVMA Trust has developed a scorecard and quiz to help practice owners vet their existing policy. Use these tools to discover whether your practice is adequately protected against risks like:
✔ Wrongful or compelled termination
✔ Workplace and sexual harassment of employees
✔ Discrimination against employees on the basis of race, religion, age, disability, or pregnancy
✔ Federal law violations (minimum wage, overtime, etc.)
✔ Harassments or discrimination alleged by third parties (clients, vendors)
✔ Violations of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), including allegations that the business’s website is not accessible to individuals with disabilities
Download the Scorecard
Evaluate your current coverage, rate a policy you may be considering, or start a conversation with an insurance broker.
Take the Online Quiz
Not sure whether your business is adequately protected? Take our online quiz to find out.
Before you think “I don’t need this coverage because that won’t happen to me,” take a look at some real-life scenarios that did happen to your veterinary colleagues:
Claim: Wrongful Termination after COVID-19
Claimant was a vet tech for the insured. She was pregnant in the spring of 2020 and appeared to have lost interest in coming into work once the coronavirus hit. According to the insured, the plaintiff requested she be laid off so she could collect unemployment. She stopped calling in to work during the coronavirus slow down and the insured thought she had abandoned her position. On April 9, 2020, claimant filed for unemployment, but she had not yet been laid off at that time. Her unemployment claim was denied and she was required to repay approximately $7,500. Claimant sent a demand letter asserting she was harassed while she was pregnant and was wrongfully terminated. Claimant demanded $30K to settle (6 months of back pay and repayment of the $7,500 unemployment benefits), to which the insured vehemently objected, claiming it had done nothing wrong.
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Claim: FMLA Violation
A former employee of the practice went out on medical leave a few months prior to giving birth to her child. The claimant requested to extend her FMLA leave by 6 days, but the insured terminated her position. Insured argued that they never extend FMLA and instead encouraged employees to re-apply for positions. The claimant alleged that she was discriminated against based on her pregnancy and the insured is in violation of the state’s Family Leave Act & FMLA.
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