Former Hempfield employees to get lifelong benefits

Feb. 27--Five former Hempfield employees are entitled to receive lifelong health care coverage and life insurance along with their spouses, according to a ruling by a Westmoreland County judge.

Cheryl Kemerer, Patricia Skiavo, Gerald Answine, Dennis Bolito and Wendy Wian were awarded the benefits last month in a ruling by Judge Anthony Marsili. A sixth person, Olive Tierno, whose late husband worked for Hempfield, has since died.

Township attorney Les Mlakar said the board of supervisors will not appeal the decision. If the former employees had their own health insurance, they are entitled to submit claims for reimbursement to the township, he said.

"We haven't seen any claims or have yet to see if anyone files claims," he said.

Township officials don't know how much the ruling will cost taxpayers, Mlakar said.

Hempfield will pay more than $648,000 for health care to Blue Cross Blue Shield this year, 2014 budget figures show.

Marsili's decision is linked to a state Supreme Court ruling awarding lifelong benefits to former supervisors who were employed by White Deer Township in Union County. The justices ruled in favor of former supervisors who sued their municipality after they left office, arguing they were entitled to the benefits.

That litigation forced Hempfield to provide benefits to former Supervisors John Skiavo, Bill Reese, Jed Yurt, Paul Reed, the late Robert Wile and the late Earl Lohr, whose late wife, Virginia, was a township supervisor.

That left the question of whether other former employees were entitled to the same benefit.

Under the terms of a contract in effect in 2004, employees were entitled to receive lifelong health care benefits at taxpayer expense. The township sued to stop the practice, arguing the benefits never were approved by supervisors.

Though Skiavo, Reese, Yurt, Reed and Wile were elected officials, they also assumed paid township jobs as roadmaster or secretary-treasurer and received the same benefits and "deferred compensation" as employees represented by the Teamsters union.

The appeals courts decided the meaning of "deferred compensation" does not include only wages and salaries. Marsili wrote that the courts have ruled that post-retirement benefits, such as health care and insurance, are "deferred compensation." He said despite a "compelling argument" by Mlakar, previous court decisions have decided the issue.

Richard Gazarik is a staff writer for Trib Total Media. He can be reached at rgazarik@tribweb.com.

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