State Farm Fires Executive Following Controversial Video
State Farm has dismissed an executive after a video surfaced online showing him discussing the company’s efforts to secure higher insurance rates in California. The video also contained the executive’s critical remarks concerning residents of the fire-ravaged Pacific Palisades region of Los Angeles.
The video, published by the conservative O’Keefe Media Group, features Haden Kirkpatrick, who was previously the vice president of innovation and venture capital at State Farm Mutual. In the video, Kirkpatrick responds to a question about the potential orchestration of rate hikes by saying, “kind of … but not in the way you would think.”
Kirkpatrick has stated to the Los Angeles Times that the video was recorded during a Tinder date.
State Farm, the largest home insurer in California, has requested expedited approval from state regulators for a 22% price increase across the state, citing over $7 billion in losses from recent wildfires.
In the video, Kirkpatrick is shown discussing these financial pressures. He said, “Our people look at this and say, ‘S—, we’ve got like maybe like $5 billion that we’re short if something happens.”
He continued, “We go to the Department of Insurance and say, ‘We’re overexposed here. You have to let us catch up our rating,’… And they’ll say, ‘Eh.’ Because the Department of Insurance and the insurance commissioner is an elected position in California. He’ll say, ‘Nah.’”
“And we’ll say, ‘OK, then we are gonna cancel these policies,’” Kirkpatrick added.
California Insurance Commissioner Ricardo Lara previously rebuffed the company’s initial attempts to raise rates, though a final decision is still pending. Lara requested a meeting with State Farm executives to address concerns about their financial situation. During a late February meeting, the company’s chief financial officer indicated that State Farm’s capacity to cover claims in California was “in jeopardy” and that significant policy nonrenewals might occur if the rate hike were not approved.
Michael Soller, a spokesperson for the Department of Insurance, stated that the video “only raises more questions.” He added, “We want answers from State Farm.”
In response to the video’s release, State Farm issued a statement asserting that Kirkpatrick’s statements are inaccurate and do not represent the company’s views. The company also sent a letter to Lara, clarifying that Kirkpatrick was not employed by the State Farm subsidiary that conducts business in California. He also never supervised any employees of the California subsidiary or held any responsibility for the subsidiary’s decisions concerning nonrenewals or rate increases.
Consumer Watchdog, an advocacy group opposing the rate hike, has voiced concerns about the video’s implications in a letter to Lara, questioning State Farm’s commitment to maintaining coverage for California homeowners.
Will Pletcher, the litigation director for the group, wrote, “These remarks strongly suggest that policy cancellations are being wielded as a strategic bargaining tool rather than as a necessary response to financial risk.”
Kirkpatrick did not respond to requests for comment but told the Times that he considered the Tinder date a setup. The video’s interviewer is identified as a “journalist” from the media group.
In the video, Kirkpatrick also criticized those who built homes in the fire-prone Pacific Palisades, claiming that these individuals wanted “natural areas around them for their ego.” He also spoke of the possibility of changing the team’s makeup to include more Latinos.
State Farm stated that these comments “do not reflect our position regarding the victims of this tragedy, the commitment we have demonstrated to the people of California, or our hiring practices across the company.”
