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California state comp fund names Vernon Steiner president, CEO

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Vernon Steiner has been named president and CEO of the California State Compensation Insurance Fund effective June 9, the workers compensation insurer said Tuesday.

Mr. Steiner previously was senior vice president of claims at Woodland Hills, California-based Zenith Insurance Co., where he was responsible for Zenith’s national claims operation, SCIF said in a statement.

Mr. Steiner also is chairman of the California Workers’ Compensation Institute in Oakland, California, and a board member of the Workers Compensation Research Institute in Cambridge, Massachusetts. He will continue to hold those posts.

He succeeds Carol Newman, who had been acting president and CEO at San Francisco-based SCIF since last November. She will return to her previous role as SCIF’s general counsel, the insurer said. “Tom Rowe, Ms. Newman's predecessor, resigned in November.”

SCIF, which is California’s largest workers comp insurer, began a restructuring effort in 2011 to cut its annual costs by $350 million, which included closing offices and cutting 1,500 to 1,800 jobs.

The agency “has made significant progress in transforming its operations to deliver greater transparency, accountability, efficiency and productivity,” the insurer said in the statement. “Vernon has deep experience in leading insurance operations – especially workers compensation claims operations.”

SCIF said Mr. Steiner’s four-year contract includes an annual salary of $450,000, a potential annual bonus of up to 30% of his salary, a monthly retention of $1,500, and a one-time recruitment and retention bonus of $270,000.