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The Institutes and Sean Kevelighan, chief executive of the Insurance Information Institute, deny the allegations of discrimination and retaliation from former employee Michael Barry.

According to a filing in U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, Triple-I parent The Institutes and Kevelighan deny Barry’s claims that he was fired after he tried to speak up for a gay coworker allegedly bullied and harassed by Kevelighan. The defendants, who have asked that the case by dismissed, also deny an annual bonus was withheld from Barry for any reason other than a substandard performance rating.

The Institutes and Kevelighan “deny that [Barry] distinguished himself as anything other than a mediocre employee whose record of job performance had declined two years in a row to the point where he was rated as ‘needs development.'”

Barry worked at Triple-I for 17 years. When New York-based Triple-I agreed to affiliate with The Institutes in 2020, Barry became senior vice president, media relations and public affairs of Triple-I. Kevelighan remained Triple-I CEO after taking over for economist Robert Hartwig in 2016.

Barry was fired March 6. Annual bonuses were announced on March 7. In his lawsuit originally filed in the Supreme Court for the State of New York, Barry said he testified in an internal investigation regarding an alleged “heated and abusive verbal exchange” with a gay employee in June 2023 during which Kevelighan allegedly used homophobic slurs and harassed the employee. Barry’s performance review – performed by Kevelighan – came after Barry’s testimony, he alleged, leading to him not getting a bonus for the time during his employment with Triple-I.

Related: Former Triple-I Exec Says He Was Fired After Testifying in Bullying Case Against CEO

The Institutes said Barry’s performance on the job had declined for multiple years, and Triple-I’s media citations have increased since he left. The timing of Barry’s termination is not an issue since he “would not have been eligible for a bonus regardless of when those bonuses were announced,” The Institutes and Kevelighan responded in the Dec. 23 court filing.

So far as the allegations related to harassment and intimidation, the defendants deny Kevelighan used abusive language, and specifically denied that Kevelighan “ever used homophobic slurs or harassed any employees on the basis of sexual orientation or otherwise.”

The nonprofit whose mission is to educate risk management and insurance professionals with brands including Triple-I, CLM, Risk & Insurance, and Insurance Thought Leadership, said in the court document 12 employees, including Barry, did participate in a 2023 internal investigation by a third-party after an employee alleged harassment and discrimination. The employees were instructed that it was illegal to retaliate against anyone involved in the investigation, and employees were encouraged to notify a supervisor or human resources with concerns. Barry never reported retaliation, The Institutes said.

Malvern, Pennsylvania-based The Institutes repeated said throughout the filing that it does not believe New York law applies to the dispute.

Topics Claims