Fire district, former firefighter clash over insurance coverage By MATT KAPKO Half Moon Bay Review September 8, 2004 Former firefighter Lane Lees has for months been suggesting that the Half Moon Bay Fire Protection District may not be covered by its insurance company for his wrongful termination suit, but Chief Jim Asche and the district's insurance broker have refuted that claim. Lees contends that Asche and Division Chief Clayton Jolley, who are individually named in his lawsuit, may be seeking their own liability insurance and legal counsel because the district's insurance won't cover them. "This is sort of client-attorney privileged information," Asche said, declining to respond to the claim that he's seeking individual representation. "Since we're going to go to court, we'll try the case in court, not in the newspaper," Asche said. "If that's how he wants to do it, that's fine." Asche said the district is in its second year of coverage under its current insurance company and confirmed that it is covering Lees' lawsuit. The reason the district changed its insurance company two years ago is because the prior company "stopped writing that policy," he said. Furthermore, he said the district has never been dropped by an insurance company as Lees suggests. "Whatever information you have is incorrect," said Michael Vreeburg, the district's insurance broker. "They have not been cancelled on any insurance. All insurance is in effect." Lees and Firefighter/Paramedic Brent Smith, who settled a lawsuit against the district more than a year ago after alleging mistreatment by a supervisor, believe that the previous insurance company dropped the district following Smith's lawsuit. That suit cost the district a $150,000 out-of-court settlement. Lees and his attorney John Boggs believe the district is in insurance limbo because the insurance company has yet to provide legal counsel. Boggs said it strikes him as peculiar that the only legal representation the district has presented thus far is its general legal counsel. He expected to see more action from the insurance company's lawyers if it was involved in the lawsuit. He added that some court-extension requests from the district's attorneys have reinforced that view. Home