FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

May 31, 2022

Statement From Louisiana Insurance Commissioner Jim Donelon

The claims in Ms. Lawrence’s lawsuit are false. Her legal complaint is rife with factual inaccuracies, distortions and outright fabrications. When I took office in 2006, the office of the insurance commissioner had been plagued by criminal activity and bad behavior resulting in three consecutive insurance commissioners being sent to federal prison. One of my top priorities since taking the job has been to return this position to respectability, and I believe I have done that.

Ms. Lawrence, who is a licensed attorney in Florida, should know the proper legal avenue to resolve an employment matter, even a frivolous one, is to first vet her alleged grievance privately with the Civil Service Commission, then to proceed through the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. Unfortunately, she chose to file this suit on her own behalf in district court in an attempt to garner negative publicity for the department and to further her own ends. Most disturbingly, Ms. Lawrence’s defamatory suit questions the integrity of multiple dedicated public servants who have done nothing wrong. Additionally, the department will now be forced to waste its time and divert resources to address this matter while we are attempting to help Louisianans recover in the aftermath of two of the most devasting hurricane seasons on record.

Ultimately, I am confident the process will show these allegations are false. In the meantime, I will not allow this issue to distract me or my staff from our work as we continue to help policyholders prepare for another hurricane season.

About the Louisiana Department of Insurance: The Louisiana Department of Insurance works to improve competition in the state’s insurance market while assisting individuals and businesses with the information and resources they need to be informed consumers of insurance. As a regulator, the LDI enforces the laws that provide a fair and stable marketplace and makes certain that insurers comply with the laws in place to protect policyholders. You can contact the LDI by calling 1-800-259-5300 or visiting www.ldi.la.gov.