Special Interest

IN THE COURTS

AARP Joins Fight for Retiree
Health Benefits

AARP has joined a lawsuit seeking to overturn Caterpillar Inc.'s decision to require employees who retired after Jan. 1, 1992, to pay for their health insurance.
Workers who retired before that date get free health care benefits for life, an arrangement once typical at Caterpillar, the giant manufacturer of construction equipment.
The suit was filed in March ' U.S. District Court in Nashville, Tenn., by two Caterpillar retirees and the widow of a third. It argues that retirees who left the company between Jan. 1, 1992, and March 1998 — when Caterpillar did not have a valid contract with the United Auto Workers union — are owed free health care benefits for life, as provided under previous contracts.
Lawyers are seeking class . action status and say about 1,000 retirees may qualify for inclusion in the suit.
"These employees, at the time they retired, were counting on the company to provide health insurance for the duration of their lives," says AARP attorney Jay Sushelsky.

Reprinted from AARP BULLETIN ,' JULY-AUGUST 2006