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The Oregon Department of Justice has denied a request (PDF) from former SAIF Corp. CEO Brenda Rocklin for legal indemnity and defense in a lawsuit filed against Rocklin by her successor, John Plotkin.
The agency rejected Rocklin's contention that, in the series of events that led to Plotkin's firing, Rocklin acted a "'volunteer' agent of the state and is entitled to coverage."
As WW reported, Plotkin, who was hired earlier this year to lead the state-owned workers compensation insurer, is suing SAIF, and current and former employees, including Rocklin, for wrongful termination and interference.
The SAIF board abruptly fired Plotkin in May, just three months after he started work at SAIF's Salem headquarters. He previously served as CEO of Colorado's state-owned workers' comp insurer Pinnacol.
In a lawsuit he filed in Marion County Court in August, Plotkin alleged that Rocklin conspired with senior SAIF managers to undermine Plotkin's leadership of the agency. Records show that Rocklin spent more than 25 hours on the phone with two senior SAIF executives and discussed with SAIF Board Chair Catherine Travis the possibility of taking her old job back. Records also show that at least four SAIF employees disputed the accounts of incidents that the board used to justifiy Plotkin's termination.
In August, Rocklin asked the Department of Justice, where she worked for many years as a lawyer, to cover her costs of defending against Plotkin's lawsuit, saying that she had acted as a volunteer advisor to SAIF in the Plotkin matter and therefore was entitled to protection.
"Our investigation leads us to the ultimate conclusion that Ms. Rocklin did not engage in any conduct could be considered the 'performance of duty' to SAIF or as an agent of SAIF," wrote DOJ chief senior trial counsel Steven M. Lippold in a letter to Rocklin's attorney on Sept. 4. "As a result, Rocklin cannot be considered a 'volunteer' agent entitled to coverage...Therefore she is not entitled to defense or indemnity from the State."
Rocklin's attorney, Bill Gary of the Harrang Long firm, says he and his client are disappointed by that decision and if the case goes to trial, may ask the judge to revisit the issue.
"The AG's office conducted a full investigation as the statutes require," Gary says. "And while we disagree with their utliatmate legal conclusion, we agree that as their investigation found, Brenda Rocklin had almost nothing to do with Mr. Plotkin's dismissal by the SAIF board."
WWeek 2015