Turning the Tables on Reptilian Responses

Reptile theory…I’ve heard as much about this topic lately as I did about cannabis in the W/C arena prior to COVID. Reptile theory is complex but, in a nutshell, it vilifies the defendant company and its employee in an effort to spark a retaliation response deep in juror’s mind in an effort to spark a nuclear verdict.

What if we could turn the tables on the reptile theory? Maybe we could call it the Rikki Tikki Tavi theory. Rather than let Plaintiff counsel paint our insured as the cause of everything bad in the world, what if we were able to paint him as a head of a household who is doing everything he can to keep a roof over his kids head and food on the table?

The defenses for reptile theory are complex and more than we have time to discuss here. The one constant is that the claims arena is changing so fast, that you have to start considering doing things that you never would have thought of doing 5 years ago. As an example, let’s look at a commercial truck driver who was at fault for an accident. The standard way of handling this is to terminate the driver after the investigation is complete…and that’s the end of it. However, what do you do at trial if you can’t find him to testify? How do you build the Rikki Tikki Tavi defense if you have no idea what this person is like when aren’t at work or behind the wheel?

Historically, social media sweeps were for the plaintiff, but they can be a powerful tool in documenting the fact your employee is a family man who just happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time. An added bonus of social media investigation is that with free updates for the life of the claim, you’ll have a pretty good idea where to start looking for your terminated employee even years after the DOI.

Fraud Sniffr, Inc. can help. For a consultation, please call us at 616-758-1079 or chat us here!