title
Communications Workers of America, et al. v. City of Gainesville, First District Court of Appeal, Case No. 1D10-1616 (NB)
recommendation
The City Commission authorize the City Attorney to file an appeal to Invoke the Discretionary Jurisdiction of the Florida Supreme Court.
explanation
On July 1st, the First District Court of Appeal denied the City's request for rehearing, rehearing en banc or for certification of the panel's opinion finding that the City's method of providing health insurance benefits to its retirees was a past practice that the City must bargain before changing. The Court also denied the amici requests of the Cities of Cocoa, St. Petersburg, Kissimmee, West Palm Beach, and Jacksonville, the Counties of Alachua and St. Johns, and the Florida League of Cities to file briefs in support of the City's request.
As background information, in 1992 the City changed its payment of retirees' health insurance premiums from 100% of single coverage for the retirees to 80% of single coverage, in line with what it was paying for active employees. The retirees filed a class action lawsuit to stop the City from doing so, arguing that they had been told the City would pay 100% of the premium for their lifetime. After years of litigation, the Court declined to certify a class of retirees, and later held that the Plaintiff retirees had abandoned their claims and dismissed the case.
While the lawsuit was ongoing, the City commissioned an actuarial study to determine the long term cost of the City's contribution of 80% of retirees and current employees' premiums. The study estimated that the City's cost to provide this benefit from 1994 forward was 76 million dollars. As a result of this study, in 1995 the City Commission adopted an ordinance changing how it would contribute to current and future retirees health insurance benefits. The ordinance provided that the City would contribute a percentage of retirees' health insurance costs th...
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