Liberty Medical employee speaks out

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PORT ST. LUCIE, Fla. - Management at Liberty Medical Supply in Port St. Lucie has yet to comment to WPTV NewsChannel 5 about substantial changes and major layoffs at the company. But one current Liberty Medical employee is breaking her silence about a work environment she calls 'hostile'.

"It was a very good place," said the employee whose identity will not be revealed. "It was teamwork. It was family," she said, describing work life when she was hired at Liberty Medical several years ago. This is how she describes the company now. "It's a very hostile environment right now; the not knowing what's going on."

Liberty Medical Supply, once St. Lucie County's largest private employer, has had a turbulent 2013. The company filed for bankruptcy, announced layoffs involving between 300 and 400 people and also cut pay for some employees.

The employee says she recently received a termination notice. In July, she will be among those being laid off. She says work stress is taking a toll on her physical and emotional well-being. "Anxiety attacks, panic attacks," she said, describing how the stress is impacting her. Still, she says, bleak job prospects keep her working at the company.

"They're scared," she said, speaking about her coworkers' reluctance to speak publicly about the company's inner workings. She says some employees fear that they would be let go even sooner than July or they may become ineligible for some unemployment benefits.

Additional layoffs, the company has said, are not likely. Multiple requests for comment from Liberty Medical management have yet to be answered.

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Liberty Medical employee speaks out

Liberty Place sues group over anti-white, gay rants

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Frank Kummer and Emily Babay, PHILLY.COM Posted: Thursday, May 23, 2013, 8:36 AM

A religious group spewing what the owners of One Liberty Place call hate speech against women, whites and gays can no longer demonstrate immediately outside the building's entrance at 16th and Chestnut Streets, a judge ruled today.

The owners of One Liberty Place in Center City Philadelphia filed a lawsuit Wednesday against the Israelite School of Universal Practical Knowledge. The group is frequently seen perched on Center City street corners shouting at passersby through bullhorns. Liberty Place Retail Associates, which owns the building, has asked the state court to bar the group from gathering in front of the entrance to its 61-story tower at 16th and Chestnut Streets.

Court of Common Pleas Judge Ellen Ceisler ruled this morning that the sidewalk area adjacent to One Liberty Place, where the group had been gathering, is private property.

She said the group could gather in the public sidewalk space that is not immediately next to the building, so long as it did not impede pedestrian access. If the Israelite group wants to set up a large stage or use a megaphone, it will need to get a permit from the city managing director's office.

"Whatever we have to do, we'll do," Israelite School member Kory Travis said in court. "Whatever is legal, we want to do it."

After the hearing, he said he didn't know if the group would have any presence at 16th and Chestnut this Friday.

The group is a nonprofit based at 46th and Market Streets in West Philadelphia.

Ceisler's ruling came after an attorney for Liberty Place, Jason Gosselin, with Drinker, Biddle and Reath, sought an injunction today asking a state court to prohibit the group from gathering at the entrance to The Shops at Liberty Place, a 150,000 square foot, 60-shop retail center and food court within One Liberty Place.

The lawsuit filed in state court claims that since November 2012 the group has met on Friday afternoons near its 16th and Chestnut Street entrance, using a loudspeaker to "take turns preaching hate toward whites, homosexuals and women."

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Liberty Place sues group over anti-white, gay rants

Liberty Mutual And Safeco Insurance Catastrophe Teams Blanket Region To Handle Tornado Claims

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BOSTON, May 23, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- To help customers promptly and safely recover from the devastating storm system that hit the Oklahoma City area, Liberty Mutual Personal Insurance companies Liberty Mutual and Safeco have sent teams of catastrophe claims specialists to the area to handle claims, including property experts in the hardest-hit areas and specialists available by telephone. To further facilitate quick customer response, the companies have set up a special home and auto claims mobile unit at the insurance command center in Moore, Okla., 301 NE 27th Street.

(Logo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20121219/MM30363LOGO-b )

"Helping our customers in their time of greatest need is our first responsibility, and we have dedicated more than 120 claims experts on the ground to ensure that we are responding as promptly as possible to everyone who has experienced a loss from this storm," said Ted Gramer, executive vice president and chief claims officer, Liberty Mutual Personal Insurance. "Once safe to do so, customers should reach out to us by phone, internet, mobile applications, through their agent, or at our response vehicle location in Moore with their claims or questions."

Home and auto insurance customers are encouraged to report their claims 24 hours a day by calling these numbers:

Homeowners can meet with Liberty Mutual or Safeco catastrophe specialists at the mobile claims unit in Moore daily from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. CT to discuss their claims, obtain policy information, and in some cases get initial claims payments for covered losses or receive advances to cover anticipated out-of-pocket costs such as food, clothing, housing and personal items.

About Liberty Mutual Insurance

"Helping people live safer, more secure lives" since 1912, Boston-based Liberty Mutual Insurance is a diversified global insurer and the third largest property and casualty insurer in the U.S. based on 2012 direct premiums written as reported by the National Association of Insurance Commissioners. Liberty Mutual Insurance also ranks 81st on the Fortune 100 list of largest U.S. corporations, based on 2012 revenue. The company employs over 50,000 people in more than 900 offices throughout the world.

Liberty Mutual Insurance's Personal Insurance sells private passenger automobile, homeowners, and specialty products in the U.S. through the Liberty Mutual Insurance and Safeco Insurance brands. Liberty Mutual Insurance products are distributed through more than 2,300 licensed sales representatives, direct response centers, third-party producers and online at http://www.libertymutual.com. With more than 14,000 affinity group relationships including employers, credit unions, and professional and alumni associations Liberty Mutual Insurance is an industry-leader in affinity marketing. More than 10,000 independent insurance agencies in 49 states sell Safeco Insurance products. Personal Insurance also offers a wide range of traditional and variable life insurance and annuity products through Liberty Life Assurance Company of Boston.

CONTACT:

Glenn Greenberg

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Liberty Mutual And Safeco Insurance Catastrophe Teams Blanket Region To Handle Tornado Claims

Liberty Mutual Insurance Provides Tools to Support ADA Compliance for Producers and Employers

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BOSTON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--

Liberty Mutual Insurances Group Benefits business unit is introducing new tools to support producers and employers compliance efforts regarding the Americans with Disability Act (ADA). Drawing on expertise acquired from more than 60 years of managing disability and absence, Group Benefits has published a guide to help employers develop ADA-compliant programs; and a manual for brokers and producers to use in helping their clients understand this complex issue.

It is both more challenging and more important than ever for employers to understand and fully comply with the ADA, notes Heather Luiz, director of product management at Liberty Mutuals Group Benefits operation. ADA compliance affects every element of an employers absence management programs and strategies, whether occupational or non-occupational. And non-compliance can be costly.

Ms. Luiz is featured in a video discussing best practices employers can undertake immediately to ensure that they are aware of their ADA obligations and interact appropriately with employees seeking accommodation for a disability under the Act. The video may be viewed at http://www.libertymutualgroup.com/ADA.

The new employer and producer guides help readers to:

To learn more about Liberty Mutuals Group Benefits operations consultative approach to ADA compliance visit http://www.libertymutualgroup.com/ADA or email GroupBenefits@LibertyMutual.com.

About Liberty Mutual Insurance

"Helping people live safer, more secure lives" since 1912, Bostonbased Liberty Mutual Insurance is a diversified global insurer and the third largest property and casualty insurer in the U.S. based on 2012 direct premiums written as reported by the National Association of Insurance Commissioners.

Liberty Mutual Insurance also ranks 81st on the Fortune 100 list of largest corporations in the U.S. based on 2012 revenue. As of December 31, 2012, Liberty Mutual Insurance had $120.1 billion in consolidated assets, $101.5 billion in consolidated liabilities, and $36.9 billion in annual consolidated revenue.

Liberty Mutual Insurance offers a wide range of insurance products and services, including personal automobile, homeowners, workers compensation, property, commercial automobile, general liability, global specialty, group disability, reinsurance and surety. Liberty Mutual Insurance (www.libertymutualinsurance.com) employs over 50,000 people in more than 900 offices throughout the world.

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Liberty Mutual Insurance Provides Tools to Support ADA Compliance for Producers and Employers

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Google Takes You to the Galapagos Islands

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Google

Karin Tuxen-Bettman collects photos of a Galapagos giant tortoise crawling along the path in Galapaguera, a tortoise breeding center managed by the Galapagos National Park Service.

In case you never take that Galapagos Islands vacation, Google has you covered. The search giant sent a team out to the remote archipelago for 10 days to photograph the rich ecosystem and share the images on Google Maps.

"Explorers and scientists alike have long studied and marveled at these islandsmade famous by Charles Darwin," wrote Raleigh Seamster, project lead for Google Maps.

Google partnered with the Charles Darwin Foundation and the Galapagos National Parks Directorate to collect panoramic images of the islands at 10 locations with its Street View Trekker (which appears to be a look like a backpack with a raised soccer ball on it -- which is the camera). While Google released some images today, the majority will be available later this year.

Google also mapped some of the ocean around the islands with Catlin Seaview Survey for a "comprehensive" look at the ecosystem and help create a "scientific baseline" to monitor it for future changes.

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Google Takes You to the Galapagos Islands

Google to add Galapagos Islands to Street View

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SAN FRANCISCO (AP) Few have explored the remote volcanic islands of the Galapagos archipelago, an otherworldly landscape inhabited by the world's largest tortoises and other fantastical creatures that inspired Charles Darwin's theory of evolution.

Soon it will take only the click of a mouse or finger swipe on a tablet to explore some of the Galapagos Islands' most remote areas, surrounding waters and unique creatures.

Mountain View, Calif.,-based Google sent hikers to the Galapagos with Street View gear called "trekkers," 42-pound computer backpacks with large, soccer ball-like cameras mounted on a tower.

Each orb has 15 cameras inside it that have captured panoramic views of some of the most inaccessible places on the Galapagos. Crews from The Catlin Seaview Survey worked with Google to capture 360-degree views of selected underwater areas too.

"We spent 10 days there hiking over trails ... and even down the crater of an active volcano," Raleigh Seamster, the project's leader for Google Maps said. "And these are islands, so half of the life there is under the water surface. So (we brought) Street View underwater to swim with sea lions, sharks and other marine animals."

Google is processing the footage and is trying to stitch it together. It hopes to post it to Street View later this year.

The cameras captured the nesting sites of blue-footed boobies, the red-throated "magnificent frigatebirds," swimming hammerhead sharks and, of course, the island's giant tortoises.

Scientists working with Google are exploring the footage for other species and hope to update the pictures regularly throughout the years as they study the effects of invasive species, tourism and climate change on the island's ecosystems.

"We hope that children in classrooms around the world will be trying to discover what they can see in the images, even tiny creatures like insects," said Daniel Orellana, a scientist with the Charles Darwin Foundation.

"We can use this as an education experience for children, and there is a huge opportunity for rare discoveries."

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Google to add Galapagos Islands to Street View