Bill Lawrence, who'd been the president of Caliber
Collision Centers, a chain of 67 body shops in Calif. (38) and Texas (29), is
no longer with the company. He joined Caliber in 1998, after 28 years with
Allstate. He left Caliber in December. The California Bureau of Automotive
Repair (BAR) has been feuding with Caliber since 2001, shutting down its Costa
Mesa shop for a week in 2002 (CRASH 5/19/02). in December, the BAR slapped
Caliber with a $50 million lawsuit alleging consumer fraud (CRASH 12/14/03).
When Caliber's troubles with the BAR were recently aired on GBS News,
Caliber CEO Matthew Ohrnstein said, "Caliber looks forward to resolving our
differences with the regulator and working toward a more productive
relationship and moving forward, for us, for the BAR, and for California
consumers."