INSURANCE

Farmers Insurance Stunned by Size of Award: Company officials said they will immediately appeal the decision by a jury in Portland, Ore., to award $38.5 million to a fired Farmers Insurance Co. district manager. “This jury award is absolutely outrageous” and “wholly without foundation,” said Daryl Hubard, president of Farmers Insurance Co. of Oregon. The Multnomah County jury reached its decision after a complicated eight-week trial. The company fired Darrell Bennett, 45, in August and demanded all his records and paperwork. Bennett claimed he had received verbal assurances that Farmers would fire him only in a case of fraud or theft.