A March 2007 market conduct exam by the California Department of Insurance alleged that Mercury Insurance may have repeatedly engaged in practices that discriminated against active members of the U.S. military, the unemployed, those of certain occupations such as bartenders and painters, and unmarried adults living together.
Representatives of Mercury Insurance were quick to argue that the leak of the conduct exam was a politically motivated move meant to benefit California Insurance Commissioner Steve Poizner, a Republican candidate for California governor in the 2010 gubernatorial election [REF].