Court Rules For Retirees In Health Care Lawsuit

Five years after they first filed suit, retirees from Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory won the first phase of a trial that they hope will lead to reinstatement in University of California health programs.

A tentative verdict from Superior Court Judge George Hernandez in Oakland found last week that that the retirees were correct in arguing two key points: that the UC Regents had the authority to enter into an implied contract with them, and that they intended to do so.

Existence of an implied contract is at the heart of the retirees contention that during their careers as active UC employees, the University made health care commitments that led to career decisions. The University should be required to live up to those commitments.

While the ruling was labeled tentative when published last week, it was emphatic in finding that in 1961, when the current UC health care program was debated and established, University Regents knowingly adopted language that offered lasting commitments to retirees. They even referred to retiree health as an “entitlement.”

These were not casual comments by low ranking employees, but commitments repeated over the years in official employee literature and promotional publications that extolled advantages both to the workforce and to the University, the verdict said.

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[Source]: The Independent