Glossary

Ministerial exception refers to a legal doctrine applying to religious institutions that provides an exemption from federal employment discrimination laws for practices that would otherwise be considered discriminatory. The rationale for the ministerial exception is that it prevents state interference with the governance of religious institutions, which would violate the First Amendment to the US Constitution's establishment and free exercise clauses. The ministerial exception allows such institutions wide latitude in determining which persons it chooses to employ and retain, even if otherwise discriminatory practices are used in making these determinations. The US Supreme Court in 2012 unanimously upheld a church's right to terminate a lay teacher (but one who also taught daily religion classes) in contravention of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), by means of the ministerial exception to that statute. ( See Hosanna-Tabor Evangelical Lutheran Church & Sch. v. EEOC, 2012 U.S. LEXIS 578 (Jan. 11, 2012).) One caveat to the ministerial exception is that it applies only to employment discrimination laws rather than to all laws regulating employment. Accordingly, the ministerial exception would not apply, for example, to allegations of sexual harassment or breach of an employment contract.

A minor's compromise is an approval by the court that a claim settled on behalf of a minor is fair and that the monies provided on behalf of the minor are deposited in an appropriate account.

Miscellaneous medical facilities are entities such as imaging centers, ambulatory care centers, hospices, dialysis clinics, homecare facilities, medical spas, and a variety of other facilities offering specialized medical services. According to some leading brokers, there are nearly 50 distinct classes of business falling under the broad category of "miscellaneous medical facilities." Essentially, any hands-on interaction with patients outside of a hospital or long-term care setting qualifies as a "miscellaneous medical facility." In general, the prevalence of these types of facilities (as well as the availability of insurance coverage options) is growing, although acute care (hospitals) and long-term care facilities (nursing homes), specifically, are not experiencing the same rate of growth. A broad shift away from inpatient care has been one driver of this increase in miscellaneous medical facilities. This is partly due to pressure to control healthcare costs associated with extended inpatient treatment.

Miscellaneous professional liability coverage is a form of errors and omissions (E&O) coverage provided for a variety of professionals and quasi-professionals, for which no standard policy form is available (as is available for the "traditional" professions such as physicians, accountants, and attorneys). Stockbrokers, process servers, detective agencies, auctioneers, customs house brokers, franchisers, etc., are examples of professionals and quasi-professionals for which this coverage would be provided. To tailor such policies to the particular profession involved, insurers generally append manuscript coverage provisions and exclusions.

Miscellaneous type vehicles are property that has limited coverage under the unendorsed personal auto policy. Examples of these vehicles include motor homes, motorcycles or similar type vehicles, all-terrain vehicles, dune buggies, or golf carts. Broader coverage can be acquired for these vehicles via the miscellaneous type vehicle endorsement.

Misclassification claims are one of the two main types of wage and hour claims made by employees against their employers. Misclassification claims allege that an employer has misclassified an employee (as "exempt" from eligibility for overtime pay) and thus has failed to pay overtime wages to that employee in violation of the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) of 1938. (The other type of wage and hour claim is known as "pay practices claims," which are composed of miscellaneous claims that are not wage and hour claims.) The FLSA established two broad classifications of employees, as follows: (1) exempt employees, who are those ineligible for, and thus "exempt" from, receiving overtime, and (2) nonexempt employees, consisting of employees who are not exempt and thus eligible to receive overtime pay. The following five categories of employees are "exempt" from receiving overtime pay: (1) executives, (2) administrative personnel, (3) professionals, (4) computer-related employees, and (5) outside sales employees. Insurers universally exclude indemnity coverage for both types of wage and hour claims (i.e., misclassification and pay practices) under employment practices liability insurance (EPLI) policies. However, a handful of insurers offer coverage for the costs of defending such claims, albeit subject to sublimits, typically $100,000 or $250,000.

Misrepresentation is a false or misleading statement that, if intentional and material, can allow the insurer to void the insurance contract. Some insurance policies and state laws that govern insurance contract provisions vary on the exact details of the conditions under which coverage may be voided; these variations are usually denoted in state amendatory endorsements.

The misstatement of age provision is a provision in a life insurance policy that adjusts the amount of insurance when the insured's age was misstated on the application to the amount that the premium would have purchased at the correct age based on the insurer's rates at the date of policy issuance.

A mixed-motive evidentiary standard is an evidentiary standard that applies in certain employment discrimination cases. Whether or not the mixed-motive evidentiary standard applies depends on (1) the particular jurisdiction in which a case is filed and (2) the exact type of discrimination alleged. Under this standard, employee-plaintiffs must prove that the employer's discriminatory act for which a claim is being brought (e.g., termination, reassignment, demotion) was merely a factor, but not necessarily the primary factor, that motivated the employer-defendant's particular action. For example, assume that an employee is terminated for low productivity that had been documented during the previous 6 months. At the exit interview, the employee is referred to as "one of our older workers" by the company's human resources manager. Under the mixed-motive evidentiary standard, to succeed in their claim, the worker need only provide some evidence that they were discriminated against on the basis of age, such as the remark about being referred to as an "older worker." This is despite the fact that their lack of productivity was the employer's primary motivation for terminating them. Employees favor the "mixed-motive" standard because it requires a relatively low level of proof to support a discrimination case.

Mix of services is a term used in conjunction with underwriting several types of professional liability insurance, notably accountants, lawyers, architects and engineers, and insurance agents. It refers to the respective proportions of specific services provided by a given professional firm, a factor that influences the expected frequency and severity of losses and therefore the premium and scope of coverage afforded. For example, assume that plaintiff personal injury (PI) cases (a high-exposure area) comprise the majority of Law Firm A's work. In contrast, most of Law Firm B's work is in the area of trusts and estates, a relatively low-exposure activity. All other things being equal, given its mix of services, Law Firm A will probably pay a higher premium and may be offered more restrictive coverage, compared to Law Firm B.