Insurer Handling San Bernardino Attack Claims Seeks $4.5M From County

Friday, June 3, 2016 | 0

The company that provided workers’ compensation insurance for Inland Regional Center, the site of the San Bernardino mass terror shooting in December, is seeking more than $4.5 million from the county for negligence and says it has spent more than $23,000 on claims so far, The Press-Enterprise reports.

Syed Rizwan Farook

Republic Indemnity Co. of California accuses San Bernardino County of failing to anticipate a security threat from county health department employee Syed Rizwan Farook, who, along with his wife, Tashfeen Malik, fatally shot 14 people and wounded 22 others at a departmental training event and holiday party on Dec. 2.

“Claimant is further informed and believes that the County of San Bernardino knew, or should have known, that its employee, Syed Rizwan Farook, had engaged in adversarial and argumentative conduct with his co-employees, and as such, posed a reasonably foreseeable danger to those persons in close proximity to the holiday party,” the claim states.

Republic Indemnity also alleges the county failed to perform an adequate background check on Farook or provide sufficient security at the holiday party.

The company says it has spent more than $23,000 on the workers’ comp claims of five IRC employees so far, and expects to spend more.

Thursday was the last day to file claims associated with the San Bernardino attacks. Two others — Mark Sandefur, who seeks more than $5.5 million in damages related to the loss of his nephew, and Kevin Ortiz, who seeks more than $150,000 after being shot multiple times in the attack — had put in their claims with the county as of Wednesday.