FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
1. What Is this Lawsuit About?
This lawsuit is a legal challenge to reverse the changes in retiree benefits that were announced by Embarq Corporation in July 2007. These changes were: (1) the elimination of company-provided retiree medical benefits for people who are eligible for Medicare and the elimination of the company’s monthly subsidy for Medicare premiums, and (2) the reduction in the amount of company-paid life insurance to a maximum of $ 10,000 (for some retirees who participated in the Carolina Telephone & Telegraph Company’s VEBA, the change was the total elimination of company-paid life insurance).
The medical and life insurance benefits are governed exclusively by the federal pension and benefits law, the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (also known as “ERISA”). This federal law does not allow any state laws to regulate benefits of this kind.
The lawsuit makes legal claims that Embarq violated the retirees’ rights under ERISA by denying them medical and life insurance benefits that were permanent and could not be taken away. A second, alternative ERISA claim is that Embarq, Sprint and other defendants violated their fiduciary duty to describe the benefits accurately and did not clearly inform employees and retirees that these benefits could be taken away.
The lawsuit asks the court to award payments for benefits that were not paid but that should have been paid, and/or to provide money to take away from the companies the financial advantages that they gained by misleading employees and retirees about the benefits.
Later in the winter, the Legal Team will be adding to the lawsuit claims under the federal age discrimination law, the Age Discrimination in Employment Act (also known as “ADEA”), which applies to discriminatory actions that employers take about retiree benefits.
2. What Is a Class Action Lawsuit?
The federal court system has a procedure allowing a small number of representative plaintiffs (the people who file a lawsuit) to file and proceed with a lawsuit for both themselves and for all other people who have similar claims. The court in Kansas City will formally rule at a later date on the question whether the case, or any of its claims, should be handled as a class action. Before that court ruling, the case is treated as a class action
In a class action lawsuit, it is not necessary for a member of the class to be individually named in and added to the lawsuit. If at a later time there is a need to take action individually to participate in and benefit from the lawsuit, the class member will be notified, provided that he or she has submitted the Retiree Contact Information Form found on the "How You Can Help" page of this website (see the instructions in the next paragraph).
IMPORTANT NOTE ABOUT AGE DISCRIMINATION CLAIMS: The legal team will be adding claims of age discrimination to the case at the end of March. Those claims also will be handled as a proposed class action. But under some of the age discrimination laws that may apply, individuals must sign up and join individually. There will be a court process for this to happen at the appropriate time, or the legal team will notify the class member about what to do, provided that he or she has submitted personal contact information by completing and sending in the form at the “How You Can Help” page of this website. Click on the “How You Can Help” button on the left side of this page and follow the instructions for completing and submitting the Retiree Contact Information Form.
3. Who Is a Member of the Proposed Class Covered by the Lawsuit?
The Complaint that was filed at the start of the case contains a request for class action treatment of the ERISA claims. The Class that is proposed for the lawsuit is intended to cover all retirees (and eligible spouses and other dependents who were entitled to benefits) anywhere in the United States, no matter who their last employer was, or whether they are union or management employees, provided that they were affected by the July 2007 benefits changes announced by Embarq.
The formal description of the Class in the Complaint is this:
All persons, including all plan participants and all eligible spouse and dependent plan beneficiaries, whose rights to medical, prescription drug, and/or life insurance benefits or premium subsidies have been adversely affected by the terminations, reductions and changes in retiree benefits which were announced by Defendant Embarq Corporation on July 26, 2007.
If you fall within the description of the Class, then you are covered by the lawsuit in its current form. This description of the Class may change as the case progresses. Please check this website periodically to learn of any changes or any steps that you must take. If you provide your personal information to the legal team, you will be notified of any changes of this kind. Click on the “How You Can Help” button on the left side of this page and follow the instructions for completing and submitting the Retiree Contact Information Form.
IMPORTANT NOTE ABOUT AGE DISCRIMINATION CLAIMS: The legal team will be adding claims of age discrimination to the case at the end of March. Those claims also will be handled as a proposed class action. But under some of the age discrimination laws that may apply, individuals must sign up and join individually. There will be a court process for this to happen at the appropriate time, or the legal team will notify you about what to do, provided that you have submitted your personal contact information by completing and sending in the form at the “How You Can Help” page of this website. Click on the “How You Can Help” button on the left side of this page and follow the instructions for completing and submitting the Retiree Contact Information Form.
4. What Do I Need to Do to Become Part of the Lawsuit?
As explained in question and answer # 2 above, at this time the lawsuit is a proposed class action. In a class action lawsuit, it is not necessary for a member of the class to be individually named in the lawsuit. If there is a need for you personally to take action individually to benefit from the ERISA claims in the lawsuit, you will be notified.
IMPORTANT NOTE ABOUT AGE DISCRIMINATION CLAIMS: The legal team will be adding claims of age discrimination to the case at the end of March. Those claims also will be handled as a proposed class action. But under some of the age discrimination laws that may apply, individuals must sign up and join individually. There will be a court process for this to happen at the appropriate time, or the legal team will notify you about what to do, provided that you have submitted your personal contact information by completing and sending in the form at the “How You Can Help” page of this website. Click on the “How You Can Help” button on the left side of this page and follow the instructions for completing and submitting the Retiree Contact Information Form.
5. How Can I Help the Legal Team and the Lawsuit?
Even though it is not necessary to individually join in the lawsuit at this time for purposes of the ERISA claims, the Legal Team urgently needs to obtain your contact information and collect evidence (documents and information) that you have. Click on the “How You Can Help” button on the left side of this page and follow the instructions for completing and submitting the Retiree Contact Information Form and respond to the other requests on that page.
You are urged to do this as soon as possible in order to help the Legal Team move forward with case preparation and to take steps to prepare an individual claim of age discrimination if that is warranted in your case. This is a decision that will be made based on the state where you last worked and which state’s age discrimination law applies to you. Once the Legal Team receives your Retiree Contact Information Form, a member of the Legal Team will contact you about the steps that you need to take for an age discrimination claim.