Insurance Company Withholding Payments in Chlorine Attack

Today GPI, Inc announced that it was withholding payments on its Gerbil Pediatric Insurance for any deaths or long-term disabilities related to the chlorine attack on a Palo Alto elementary school earlier this month. Shari Lewis, a spokesperson for the company, explained that the legal status of the attack had yet to be determined and that determination would establish whether or not payments would be required under the policies.

A representative of the school’s parent support group who did not wish to be identified explained that the group had worked with GPI on fundraising campaigns for the last ten years selling Gerbil Pediatric Insurance to parents and families of students at the school to raise money to support the music and arts programs at the school. Participation in the annual fundraising drives has been nearly universal, but the parent support group did not know how many of the affected students currently were covered by the GPI policies. To date, fifty students have died from injuries sustained in the attack and hundreds more are expected to have life-long complications for the chlorine exposure.

Lewis explained that the United States Treasury Department had not formally declared that the chlorine attack on the school was a terrorist attack, so the terrorism provisions of the policy have yet to be triggered. Additionally, the recent arrest of an Iranian national raised the prospects that this was an act of aggression by a foreign power, so that the ‘act of war’ exemption in the policy might prohibit any payments. Until these two legal issues were resolved, Lewis reported that GPI would not be making any payments under the policies.

The Treasury Department has declined to comment on the terrorism status of the attack, pending completion of the investigation by the Federal Bureau of Inquiry. Jeffery P. Morgan, a spokesman for the Department, said that while the attack certainly had terrorist characteristics, a legal declaration required a full and complete investigation of the attack.

Johnathan Quest, an FBI spokesman, confirmed that an Iranian national had been arrested in connection with an attempted similar attack last week, but that the FBI has not formally connected him to the Palo Alto school attack. Whether or not the unnamed individual has ties to the government of Iran has not yet been established.

Rep. Harvey Milk (D,CA) issued a statement criticizing GPI. He complained that “GPI’s failure to provide financial support to the parents and families affected in this attack is just another example of corporate greed. Families were told that they could count on these policies to aid them in paying for funeral expenses and long-term medical care. Failure of GPI to make good on these promises just expands and deepens the horrendous experience these families are having to deal with.”

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