March 31, 2025. Judge Richard L. Young of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Indiana issued a permanent injunction against Alcoa, ordering it to reinstate lifetime access to a health benefit plan for a class of retirees, surviving spouses, and dependents. (Kaiser et al. v. Alcoa USA Corp. et al., No. 3:20-cv-00278, USDC SD Il.)
The permanent injunction reinstates the healthcare plan Alcoa ended in January 2021 when it transitioned workers who retired before June 1993 to a health reimbursement account. Alcoa must reinstate the health plan retroactively to January 2021; retirees may submit claims for health and prescription expenses they accumulated following the plan’s termination; the class will be compensated for Medicare Part B premiums for the period between January 2021 and the health plan’s reinstatement; and class members can also receive prejudgment interest at the average rate of 6.5%.
The retirees sued in December 2020, asserting that Alcoa violated the Labor Management Relations Act and Employee Retirement Income Security Act by ending the health benefits plan for employees who retired prior to June 1993. The plaintiffs argued that the retirees were covered under labor contracts prior to 1993 that provided lifetime access to the uncapped health benefits.
The retirees and unions are represented by FDPK attorneys Joel R. Hurt, Ruairi McDonnell, and Pamina Ewing, and Barry Macey and Jeffrey Macey of Macey Swanson, LLP.