PRC's Agreement Paving Way for Serna Retirement in Public Interest

Commissioner Jason Marks

In April, the PRC placed Serna on administrative leave so that the Attorney General could investigate allegations of misconduct that the PRC referred to her. With that investigation still in process (no report or results have been released by the A.G.), the PRC faced three possibilities: reinstating Serna to active duty, firing him, or securing his retirement. The terms by which secured his retirement give the state and the public everything we could have gotten from an adversarial personnel action -- but at much less cost in terms of disruption, uncertainty, and legal expense.

When the previous Insurance Superintendent was fired by the Commission in 1999 or 2000, it cost the state at least half a million dollars. Our agreement with Serna cost the state nothing. Serna gets accrued vacation time and whatever retirement he's earned. He would have been entitled to these benefits even if he was fired. To his credit, Serna did not try to hold out for any type of financial pay-off. In my mind, this is a dignified exit on his part.

Finally, our agreement also does not compromise the A.G.’s investigation. If there is any substance to the allegations of criminal wrongdoing, they can and should be dealt with in that context. My job is to ensure public confidence in the actions of the PRC’s Insurance Division. The public interest here was in changing the leadership (i.e., who holds the Superintendent’s position) and in getting staff focused on their important insurance regulatory work. We have done that in an effective and efficient manner.