Class Certification Sought in Applied Underwriters Workers’ Comp Insurance Case

NEW YORK — The plaintiffs who accuse Applied Underwriters Inc. and its affiliates of charging policyholders grossly inflated premiums have asked a New York federal judge to certify a class of hundreds of businesses who purchased the defendants’ workers’ compensation insurance programs.

In the Nov. 14 motion filed in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, the plaintiffs argue that they satisfy all of the Rule 23(a) prerequisites — numerosity, commonality, typicality, and adequacy. They further maintain that common issues predominate as to defendants’ alleged conduct in charging rates for workers’ compensation insurance that differed from …