Norwood Pension Flap Class-Action Settlement In Works: City And Retirees Ask Judge For 'Fairness Hearing'

CINCINNATI (TDB) -- The argument was over complaints that Norwood illegally shifted  increased costs for health care insurance to its pensioners.  Former police and fire department workers said they took lower pay in the 1970s in exchange for promises of medical benefits after they retired.  When the costs rose, Norwood broke its promise.  Judge Charles Kubicki has not set a date for the fairness hearing in Hamilton County Common Pleas Court, but the joint request filed last week signals that the conclusion of the lawsuit is near.  The case -- which involved about 150 city workers -- is important, although it has not attracted a great deal of attention.  The Norwood case shows that attempts by state and Cincinnati officials -- who are battling an explosion in pension expenses for public employees -- to chop retirement benefits for government workers will likely wind up in court.

The Norwood lawsuit is Case No. A 098881 and was filed by retirees who started working for that city before 1975.  The city promised health care benefits as part of the pension package.  The retirees said said they gave up pay raises and cost of living adjustments in exchange for the health care benefits.  The retirees claim that in 2005 Norwood forced them to begin paying a portion of their health care insurance premiums:

"Sometime in 2005, the city, without any notice or process being provided to the retirees, implemented a policy that certain police and fire retirees that were non-Medicare eligible would not be reimbursed for all health care premiums.  Indeed, the evidence [to be presented at trial] will reveal that the City reimbursed these premiums since at least 1990 as part of its contractual obligations that were made when induced the retirees to continue to work for at as well as certain language contained in police and fire labor contracts.  Many retirees were made aware of this newly adopted policy not by the City, but by the third party administrator that handles their claims and paperwork."

Norwood said it agreed to pay up to $2,250 a year for co-pays, deductibles and medical expenses not covered by the pension insurance, which came from the Ohio Police and Firefighters Fund.  Norwood contended:  "Any medical expense not covered by the applicable insurance policy or in excess of the ($2,250 a year) would be paid for  by the retirees. . . The plain language of the plan limits benefits to $2,250 'per plan year for each plan participant.'  The language could not be any more clear or unambiguous."

Kubicki was scheduled to try the class-action Oct. 7 without a jury.  The trial was canceled.  The case was originally filed in U.S. District Court where Judge Michael Barrett spent three days holding unsuccessfully settlement talks.  It was moved to Common Pleas Court last year, were the parties tried to mediate a deal.  They have explored a possible settlement, and the Oct. 12 request for a fairness hearing indicates they reached an agreement.  A fairness hearing is unique to class-action litigation -- it requires the judge to determine that the settlement is fair, adequate, reasonable and not based on collusion between the lawyers.  The judge is supposed to act as the protector of the class, and once the settlement is presented, the judge make his evaluation.

Tea Party Sues Butler County Board of Elections: Says Supporter Banned From Access To Voters Outside Precinct In Union Hall

CINCINNATI (TDB) --  The Tea Party wants a federal restraining order that would prohibit officials in Butler County -- John Boehner's backyard -- from interfering with supporters who gather petitions opposing President Obama's health care law.  The Tea Party plans to set up outside an International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers union hall in Liberty Township that serves as a voting precinct.  It says a federal judge should intervene to: "Stop the unconstitutional restrictions imposed by the IBEW in cooperation with the Butler County Board of Elections."  The lawsuit claims a Liberty
Township Tea Party activist, Kathy Dirr, was previously ordered off the property and threatened with arrest last May during Primary Day voting.  U.S. District Judge Michael Barrett has set a 3 p.m. hearing on Oct. 18 at the federal courthouse in Cincinnati on the request for a temporary restraining order.  Lawyers Chris Finney and Curt C. Hartman represent the Liberty Township Tea Party.  The Case is No. 1:10-CV-707 in the Southern District of Ohio.

The Tea Party says Dirr was seeking signatures on a petition in support of the Ohio Health Care Freedom Amendment, which seeks a statewide referendum aimed a limiting the reach of the new federal health care law:

"On the day of the primary election, Ms. Dirr set up a table outside of the electioneering-free zone at the IBEW Local 648 Union Hall from which she could engage in discussing and advocacy with her fellow citizens and solicit signatures on the petition.  Her table contained a sign which announced "Stop Obama Care' and was located outside of the electioneering free zone as was marked by the precinct election officials.  Neither the table nor Ms. Dirr obstructed anyone's access or posed any safety hazard.

"After Ms. Dirr had been at the IBEW Local 648 Local Union Hall and collecting signatures on the petitions for approximately 10 minutes, four precinct election officials (who work under direction and supervision of the Board of Elections) came outside and approached Ms. Dirr, inquiring if she was 100 feet away from the entrance to the hall.  The election officials insisted that Ms. Dirr move her table approximately 10 feet from its initial location, which Ms. Dir did and from this new location continued to solicit signatures for the petition she was circulating.

"Then approximately 10 minutes later, Defendant Jeffrey McGuffey, who is the membership development director for the IBEW, approached Ms. Dirr and demanded that she immediately cease her activities and leave the polling place all together.  But in light of Ms. Dirr's knowledge that the same or similar activities having been allowed to take place outside of the electioneering-free zone during the course of prior elections for at least 10 years, Ms. Dirr indicated that she would not leave until the Butler County Board of Elections indicated that her continued presence at the polling place location was not permissible."

Eventually, the lawsuit contends, the county elections director, Betty McGary, sent an e-mail saying that the union could decide who it would allow on its property.  Dirr said she stopped seeking signatures.  The lawsuit says she wants to show up again on Election Day Nov. 2 and resume collecting signatures outside the voting precinct.  The lawsuit says the Tea Party and its members should be allowed to "freely disseminaate information of critical importance to the elections, government and politics on election days outside of the electioneering-free zone at polling place . . . "

Cincinnati City Workers Won't Hit Class-Action Jackpot After All: Judge Tosses $55 Million Lawsuit

CINCINNATI (TDB) -- Big money was at stake for each city worker -- an average of $22,357. Just four months after certifying the case as a class action, U.S. District Judge S. Arthur Spiegel tossed out the lawsuit brought by 2,460 current and former City of Cincinnati employees. They claimed ownership of $55 million in proceeds from the conversion of their insurer, Anthem, to a stock company. Anthem, a unit of Indianapolis-based healthcare giant WellPoint (NYSE:WLP), made the switch from a mutual company in 2001. It gave 870,021 shares to the city as the group policyholder for its employees.

Seven years later the employees decided that they were the real policyholders and, under state law, deserved to split the money among themselves. They hired a four-lawyer team and filed suit in 2008 in U.S. District Court in Cincinnati. Last week, Spiegel granted Anthem a partial summary judgment and closed the case. Anthem's payment of $55 million to the city, he wrote, did not violate state law. Moreover, it conformed with the bylaws of the original insurer, Community Mutual Insurance Co., which merged with an Indiana company that became WellPoint. Spiegel declared in his 29-page ruling:

"As a general rule, 'policyholders' are the insureds, who are typically 'owners' and entitled to proceeds. However in some specific situations, like the one at bar where the city is indisputably the owner of the group policy, the insureds do not necessarily have equity rights."

There were 15 lawyers representing various parties in the case, which was filed as Mell, et al v. Anthem Inc, et al, Case No. 1-08-cv-00715, U.S. District Court Southern District of Ohio. Lawyers for the workers were Eric Zagrans, Michael Bender, Dennis Barron, and Al Gerhardstein. Zagrans and Bender are from Elyria near Cleveland. The Anthem (WellPoint) legal team was comprised of Adam K. Levin v, Craig Hoover and Peter Bisio of Hogan and Hartsone in D.C.; Vorys Sater lawyers Peter Wolfla, Kent Allen Britt, Robert Neal Webner and Glenn Whitaker in Cincinnati, and Christopher Scanlon and Anne K. Ricchiuto of Baker & Daniels in Indianapolis. Terence Nestor represented the City of Cincinnati. No word yet on an appeal.

Ohio Gov. Ted Strickland: Voluntarily Pays Full Cost Of Group Health Insurance

COLUMBUS (TDB) -- As a retired congressman, Ohio Gov. Ted Strickland remains eligible for the Federal Health Benefit Program, which is the U.S. government's blue chip group health care plan. Uncle Sam covers about 72 percent of the average monthly premium, with the rest deducted from a worker's paycheck. Strickland did not shift his health insurance package to state coverage when he took office in January, and stayed with the federal program. But he voluntarily pays the full cost out of his own pocket -- $697 per month. The governor's spokesman, Keith Dailey, said his boss has never allowed Uncle Sam to cover its share of the premium.

"He reimburses the government for its share. He pays for his own health care out of pocket. He writes a check to the U.S. Treasury every month to reimburse what it spends on his health care."

Strickland's plan covers himself and Ohio's First Lady, Frances Strickland. He's been writing the checks since 1992, when he was first elected from OH-06, a southern Ohio congressional district that is mostly in Appalachia. Many residents of the region cannot afford health insurance, or lack coverage through their jobs. Strickland promised when he was running that he would not allow the government to pay for his insurance until everyone in his district had coverage. Of course, many still does not have coverage today and he has been living up to his promise.

"He had initially made that pledge, and maintains it now," Dailey said.

The Daily Bellwether brought up the topic of the governor's health care because he has been critical of Republicans in Congress who voted against S-CHIP, the government-subsidized health care plan for children that President Bush vetoed last month. But it is clear that Strickland has put his money where his mouth is, and won't taken benefits that all others cannot receive. The Federal Employee Health Benefit plan is operated by the U.S. Office of Personnel Management, which negotiates with several private insurers for lower group coverage rates.

Out of pure curiosity, I asked Dailey who pays the food bill at the governor's mansion. The taxpayers? He said there is a manager who runs the property and buys the groceries. Strickland reimburses the cost of $300 to $350 per month by writing a check every quarter. He doesn't pay if there is an official event -- either the sponsoring organization pays the cost, or a non-profit foundation that was set up years ago to pay costs at the executive residence covers the bill. Dailey said Strickland tries to be frugal. Often he makes his own lunch and brings it to work at his State House office.

"He brown bags. Sometimes he makes his lunch and brings it to work, and sometimes Frances does it. It's not really a bag, it's sort of a reuseable bag."

He said the governor doesn't carry a lunch pail or bucket to work.