BJ story on printers' health care lawsuit

May 15 Daily Backgrounder Page D2

Newspaper ordered
to restore benefits

A judge has issued a preliminary injunction against the Akron Beacon Journal in a class-action lawsuit by a group of retirees.

The members of the Communications Workers of America Local 14514 alleges the Beacon Journal violated a contractual obligation to provide lifetime health care, including prescription drug benefits, at a minimal cost.

U.S. District Court Judge David Dowd ordered the newspaper to restore prescription drug benefits to retirees as described in letters received by the retirees and reimburse them for denied benefits they had to pay out of pocket.

The retirees say they were guaranteed lifetime employment with the Beacon Journal, and exchanged it for an early-retirement incentive program that included supplemental health-care benefits for themselves and their spouses.

The incentives were honored until the newspaper was purchased by Canadian publisher David Black in 2006, the suit alleges. At that time, the retirees say they received a letter stating that their prescription co-pays would be increased.

Retiree attorney Subodh Chandra said "having cold-heartedly broken promises to these retirees and now been called on it by a federal judge, one would hope that the Akron Beacon Journal would now simply accept responsibility,comply with the order and not do it again. We suspect, however, that they will continue to drag out this dispute with appeals hoping that the retirees will die or just go away. And we know that they have done this to others."

Beacon Journal attorney Brett Bacon said "the Beacon is studying the decision and speaking with an outside consultant and intends to meet as soon as possible with the counsel for the plaintiff."

Bacon said the case is complicated and the company is looking at its options to see if it is feasible to comply since the benefits are provided by third parties.