Employees Duped by Employer

In the article "Supreme Court says retiree health benefits can expire," Richard Wolf talks about a Supreme Court ruling on Monday that ruled that if a contract is not clear about the duration of benefits for retirees, the company can use their own discretion, and in this instance terminate life insurance benefits for former workers.  The judges found it odd that the contract that the company had with the employees was not clear.  However, the judges also warned that lower courts may interpret similar situations by what is intended by contracts, unlike the Supreme Court.

The main effect of this ruling is that if a contract gives a benefit to a retiree, that does not mean the benefit lasts for life unless explicitly stated. This will hopefully cause employers to be more specific in future contracts, and maybe employees will pay closer to contracts that they sign. However, this court ruling will probably not have as large of an effect as most Supreme Court cases.

I feel bad for the employees who are stripped of their life insurance, since for the rest of their life they are still technically retirees of that company. The employees were told by their employer that they had lifetime life insurance, but they probably did not read through the contract and just trusted their employers.