Berkshire unit faces lawsuit over workers' comp plans

A Berkshire Hathaway company that offers workers'
compensation programmes that have been banned in California and two
other states has become the target of a federal lawsuit in New
York.
The plaintiffs claimed the policies amounted to a "reverse
Ponzi scheme" designed to skirt state law.
The programmes at issue, which include a reinsurance agreement
and a discount option described as a profit-sharing plan by Applied
Underwriters (AU) and its affiliates, are loss-sensitive policies
that use a pat