Appeals court upholds decision in favor of Groton Police Department retirees' health insurance complaint

Oct. 3--The state Appellate Court has upheld a decision that five retired members of the Town of Groton Police Department should receive the same health insurance deductible contributions as employees.

The court affirmed a Superior Court decision, which the town had appealed last year, that the retirees should receive the same health savings account contributions as current employees, and directed the town to pay $36,000 in damages to the retired officers.

The Appellate Court also ruled that the town should not have to pay the plaintiffs' legal fees

In 2018, five former members of the police department and former Groton Police Union members Donna Duso, David Menard, James Gauthier, Kathleen Doyle and Dexter Herron filed a complaint in New London Superior Court that their pension agreement stipulates that the "nature and scope" of their insurance coverage should be the same as for current police officers, but that the town was not contributing to their health deductible as it was for current employees.

According to the complaint, after the plaintiffs retired, the town and police union reached a new collective bargaining agreement, effective July 1, 2016 to June 30, 2020, and the town adopted a High Deductible Health Plan. The town agreed to contribute half of current employees' deductible costs to a health savings account. But the bargaining agreement said the town is not obligated to similarly contribute to former employees' deductible costs because the contribution is not "an element of the underlying insurance plan but rather relates to the manner in which the deductible shall be funded for active employees."

The in-network deductibles are $2,000 for an individual and $4,000 for a family, according to court documents.

According to court documents, the town sought to have the case dismissed and argued that the court "lacks subject matter jurisdiction." The town said the plaintiffs don't have legal standing to enforce the bargaining agreement, did not bring their action before the Connecticut State Board of Labor Relations, and "failed to exhaust their administrative remedies by failing to exercise contractual grievance rights set forth in the collective bargaining agreement."

The Superior Court ruled that the town had breached the pension agreement and "the plaintiffs are entitled to the same deductible contribution payments as active police officers," and directed the town to pay the retirees the deductible contributions. The ruling was upheld in the Appellate Court decision officially released on Tuesday.

"When we retired from the Police Department after many years of dedicated public service, it was very disheartening to learn that the Town of Groton would go through such great lengths (both financially and timewise) to deny us a benefit that was promised as part of our retirement contract," Duso, who retired after 29 years as an animal control officer, said Wednesday. "We are appreciative to the court for upholding our rights and enforcing the promise made to retirees in the Pension Agreement that we would be treated equally with active police officers in terms of health insurance."

Town Manager John Burt said the town's attorneys are reviewing the decision, and he expects to provide an update to the Town Council in the near future.

Jacques J. Parenteau, the plaintiffs' attorney, said the 2023 Superior Court decision orders the town to pay for five years of contributions to the retirees, from July 2018 to 2022, but he plans to file a motion to address the time that has gone by since then.

"We're pleased to see that the Connecticut Appellate Court recognized the intent of the parties and the pension agreement was to provide the retirees with the same insurance coverage as active police officers," Parenteau said. "But the taxpayers of the Town of Groton should question the wisdom of their leaders who spent approximately in excess of $100,000 in attorney fees over five years of litigation so that they could be relieved of the obligation to pay $7,000 a year in HSA deductible contributions to five retired police officers who have, in just about every case, worked for more than 20 years as loyal employees for the town."

Burt said the case has a much wider effect on the town than the damages awarded in the case. He said he could not comment further until he and the council had met with the town's attorneys.

k.drelich@theday.com

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