Editor’s Note: The lawsuit discussed in this article affects ONLY New York State Executive Branch and Unified Court System retirees who retired between 1983 and 2011.
On Oct. 30, 2015, a federal court granted CSEA retirees class action status in the union’s ongoing federal lawsuit against the state, claiming the state illegally raised health insurance costs for New York state Executive Branch and Unified Court System employees who retired between 1983 and 2011.
This class action status is a major victory because any result in the case, whether it is reached by decision or settlement, will now cover all 70,000 CSEA state retirees, spouses and dependents.
“We look forward to resolving this case as quickly as possible,” CSEA President Danny Donohue said. “These increases have financially harmed our retirees, especially in an economy that is increasingly out of balance for retirees and middle-class workers.”
“We are pleased not only with the fact that our retirees have been granted class action status, but with the fact that this long-delayed lawsuit is finally moving forward,” CSEA Retiree Executive Committee Chair Judy Richards said. “We look forward to a resolution that will benefit retirees who have been waiting for years for justice.”
Attorneys will meet with the federal magistrate judge in November to set a discovery schedule. Discovery, or evidence collection, will include an exchange of documents and depositions of the individuals from the state and CSEA who negotiated the relevant contracts. When discovery is concluded and the parties have made dispositive motions, a trial can be held. A trial is not expected until 2017.
In 2011, CSEA and 10 other New York state unions sued the state on the grounds that the state and UCS violated the CSEA contracts in effect on the date that each retiree retired, as well as the Contracts Clause of the United States Constitution, when the state and UCS raised retiree health insurance contribution rates effective Oct. 1, 2011, from 10 percent to 12 percent for individual coverage and from 25 percent to 27 percent for family coverage. CSEA and the other labor unions involved in this case did not negotiate these increases.
The case was delayed for over three years by motions made by the state, and the court consistently ruled against the state on those motions.
