Briggs & Stratton Retirees File Class Action Challenging Cuts to Their Health Insurance

A group of retired Briggs & Stratton Corp. employees filed a putative class action Aug. 16 in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Wisconsin, contending that the company has violated federal benefits and labor laws by breaking its promise to provide them with company-paid health insurance benefits (Merrill v. Briggs & Stratton Corp.).

The retirees are joined in their lawsuit by the United Steelworkers, which represented the retirees when they were employed at Briggs & Stratton facilities in Wisconsin.

At issue is a 2006 collective bargaining agreement between the USW and Briggs & Stratton that ...