Editor’s Note: In 2011, CSEA filed a federal court class action lawsuit against New York state over changes to retiree health insurance impacting employees who retired between 1983 and 2011. Specifically, the lawsuit was filed when the state unilaterally increased health insurance contributions to retirees.
Since its filing, the lawsuit has been consolidated with approximately 11 other cases, filed by fellow labor unions alleging the same misconduct by the state.
This lawsuit is assigned to a federal judge in Albany. The New York State Attorney General’s Office is defending the case.
To date, CSEA and the Attorney General’s Office have exchanged approximately 10,000 documents, mostly concerning collective bargaining negotiations between the parties stemming back to the late 1970s and early 1980s.
The parties have just begun taking depositions of fact witnesses, which will continue into the summer and fall. Given the complexity of the litigation and the number of lawsuits and labor unions involved, it is likely that this matter will proceed for quite some time.
CSEA will continue to advise our retirees with further developments of this litigation.
