RISK MATRIX
RECENT EVENTS
Compiled by our editors with an eye to the quirky and the profound ways in which risk management and insurance impact our world.
Rape and murder rates in
El Salvador continue to be
among the highest in the
world, despite a decline in
the murder rate in 2017.
A 2014 food truck explosion in Philadelphia
that killed two people resulted in a $160
million settlement. It is believed to be
the largest pre-verdict settlement in Pa.
state court history.
Experts believe that Houston’s
topography, regulatory
environment and poor regional
planning practices will result in
even more catastrophic flooding
as the moisture content of storms
increases.
Tesla filed a lawsuit against an
employee who stands accused
of sabotaging the company. The
worker broke into the computer
system and made code changes
to manufacturing processes. Rupert Stadler, the CEO of Audi, was
arrested by German authorities in
connection with Audi’s emissions
rigging scandal. Stadler is the first
member of Audi-owner Volkswagen’s
executive board to be arrested in
connection with the scandal.
A bourbon
storage
warehouse
in Kentucky
partially
collapsed, sending
thousands of barrels of
whiskey tumbling and
killing hundreds of fish in
nearby streams.
Legislators in
Pennsylvania
are considering
a law that will
allow medical
marijuana users to
drive as long as they are
not driving impaired.
A six-year-old picked up and fired a
loaded gun that was left
on a couch in an IKEA in
Fishers, Indiana. No one
was injured; but someone
could have been.
Some of the tens of millions who lost their data
in the 2017 Equifax data breach are taking the
company to small claims court, winning four-
figure settlements in some cases.
Texas outlets of
Whataburger, Raising
Caine’s and In-N-Out
Burger were all impacted
by a quality problem
involving supplies of
hamburger buns. In-
N-Out closed all of its
Texas stores for two
days until the
“bun crisis” was
resolved.
Flash flooding in Southeast
Texas and Western
Pennsylvania signifies a
growing trend of damage
from heavier rainfall.
