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<br />. <br /> <br />. <br /> <br />. <br /> <br />.. <br /> <br />I am also recommending that the City purchase so-called "open <br />meeting law insurance" from the League of Minnesota Cities <br />Insurance Trust. The Minnesota Supreme Court has recently <br />confirmed that a suit against city officials alleging a violation <br />of the open meeting law is not a claim covered under the Trust's <br />general policy. The Trust offers open meeting law coverage at a <br />fairly nominal amount. This coverage protects City officials <br />against the possibility of incurring attorneys' fees defending an <br />open meeting law suit. If the Council elects to purchase this <br />coverage, I will mention that fact in my memorandum. <br /> <br />Excess Liability Insurance <br /> <br />Lori has asked me to discuss with the Council whether the City <br />should purchase "excess liability insurance" from the Trust. <br />Minnesota law puts a limit on the tort liability of <br />municipalities (currently $200,000 per claim and $600,000 for all <br />claims arising out of the same occurrence). Excess liability <br />insurance provides coverage in excess of these tort liability <br />limits. <br /> <br />The League offers two types of excess liability insurance. The <br />first type does not waive the statutory tort liability limits for <br />claims which are covered by the statutory limits, but provides <br />excess liability coverage for claims which may not be covered by <br />the tort liability limits. For instance, dram shop claims, civil <br />rights claims, and certain federal employment law claims may not <br />be covered by the state tort liability limits. <br /> <br />The second type of excess liability insurance offered by the <br />League waives the tort liability limits of Minnesota law. The <br />purpose of this policy is to provide the opportunity for <br />plaintiffs to obtain more than the statutory maximum in damages. <br /> <br />It is my understanding Lori has some information for the Council <br />on the cost of this excess liability insurance. I will leave to <br />the Council the decision of whether the benefit received is <br />sufficient to off-set the cost. However, in my discussions with <br />people at the League of Cities, they indicate that they have very <br />seldom had claims that have gone into excess liability coverage. <br /> <br />I will be at the Council meeting on December 19, 1994, and will <br />be happy to answer questions from the Council on any of the three <br />topics discussed in this memo. <br /> <br />2 . <br /> <br />PKB:JM9s <br />