Embarq Corp. Wins Long-Running Lawsuit Over Retiree Health, Life Insurance Benefits

In a long-running class action over retiree benefits, a federal judge June 10 rejected claims by about 3,200 retirees seeking vested lifetime benefits from telecommunications provider Embarq Corp. (Fulghum v. Embarq Corp., 2015 BL 183168, D. Kan., 2:07-cv-02602-EFM-JPO, 6/10/15).

Handing a big win to the employer, Judge Eric F. Melgren of the U.S. District Court for the District of Kansas considered more than 70 summary plan descriptions governing the retirees. He found that none of them entitled the retirees to vested lifetime health or life insurance benefits.

In particular, Melgren observed that many SPDs contained broad reservation-of-rights ...