Title V of the Landrum-Griffin Act, also known as the Labor Management Reporting and Disclosure Act (“LMRDA”), says that it is against public policy to relieve union officers of liability for intentional acts such as personal profit, fraud or conflict of interest. Thus, labor leaders can be personally responsible for all defense costs until proven innocent. Ullico Casualty Group Inc. (“Ullico Casualty”) offers coverage to bridge this gap through the Individual Labor Leader (“ILL”) endorsement on our Union Liability policy. This endorsement provides coverage for the cost of defense, settlement and appeals for union leaders who elect this optional coverage under the terms of the policy.

Why do I need the Individual Labor Leader (“ILL”) endorsement?

The Union Liability policy provides two parts of coverage – the primary policy and the ILL endorsement. The primary policy provides limits of liability up to $5 million and covers the four broad exposures unions and their leaders face, which are: employment practices liability, duty of fair representation, personal injury and financial management of the union. The second part of coverage is the ILL endorsement. This endorsement provides defense protection for union officials when unions cannot fund the defense for allegations against their leaders of fiscal dishonesty or wrongdoing.

Who can purchase the ILL endorsement?

Union directors, officers and any representatives of the union, including board and committee members, shop stewards and business agents should consider purchasing this coverage. Please refer to the definition of “insured person” in the policy form issued. Payments for the ILL endorsement can be made directly to the brokerage firm handling the policy, and they will remit payments to Ullico Casualty. We recommend that you review this topic with your legal counsel if you have questions.

Why can’t the union pay for the ILL endorsement?

The union cannot include this type of individual coverage in its base policy because courts, interpreting the LMRDA, have prohibited unions from funding the defense of these allegations against individual leaders. Therefore, the union leaders electing the ILL endorsement are responsible for paying their own ILL coverage premiums.

Click here for a complete list of Frequently Asked Questions regarding ILL coverage.  For a full description of Union Liability insurance coverage, please refer to Ullico Casualty’s Union Liability - Leadership Protection brochure or visit www.ullico.com/casualty.

Ullico Casualty Group Inc. is an affiliate of Ullico Casualty Company and both companies are subsidiaries of Ullico Inc., the holding company. Ullico Casualty Group Inc.: In CA, Ullico Insurance Agency Inc. Lic# 0E16939; in NY, Ullico Casualty Agency. Products may not be available in all states.