What is the difference between D&O, EPL, and fiduciary liability in Georgia?

Directors and officers (D&O) insurance, employment practices liability (EPL) insurance, and fiduciary liability insurance each cover a different person and a different type of claim inside the same management liability program.

D&O insurance protects individual directors and officers against personal liability for decisions made on the company's behalf. A claim might allege a director approved a bad merger, misrepresented financial results to investors, or breached a duty owed to shareholders under O.C.G.A. Title 14. D&O pays defense costs and settlements or judgments tied to those individual decisions, protecting personal assets rather than just the company's.

EPL insurance covers the company itself and the managers who make employment decisions. Claims covered include allegations of discrimination, harassment, wrongful termination, retaliation, and failure to promote. Example: a Georgia retail business terminates an employee for performance reasons, and the employee later files an EEOC charge alleging the termination was actually age discrimination. EPL coverage responds to the defense costs and any settlement tied to that claim, whether or not the allegation holds up.

Fiduciary liability insurance is narrower and tied to a specific federal law: ERISA, the Employee Retirement Income Security Act, which governs how 401(k) and pension plans are run. It protects the people who serve as plan fiduciaries, meaning anyone who manages the plan, selects its investment lineup, or makes decisions about how it operates. A claim might allege excessive plan fees, a bad investment choice, or a delay in depositing employee contributions.

The three coverages do not overlap much in practice, which is why insurers sell them individually or bundled. A single event can also trigger more than one policy. If a company downsizes and laid-off employees sue both the company and the board, alleging the layoffs were discriminatory and that severance decisions ignored fiduciary duties tied to their retirement accounts, D&O, EPL, and fiduciary liability coverage could each respond to the same dispute at once.

Georgia does not require any of these coverages, though the exposure applies to any business with directors, employees, or a retirement plan, as covered in does Georgia require management liability insurance. Typical cost by coverage type is detailed in how much management liability insurance costs in Georgia. Management liability insurance bundling all three is available through Olive Cover, and a coverage review can walk through which pieces apply to a specific business.