Ohio Federal Court Gives Preliminary OK To Retiree Settlement That Establishes VEBA

The U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Ohio granted preliminary approval Feb. 8 to a settlement that calls for the Ohio Education Association to pay its retirees $3.75 million and set up a voluntary employees’ beneficiary association to fund the retirees’ health benefits (Prater v. Ohio Educ. Ass’n).

The settlement comes a year and a half after Judge Edmund A. Sargus Jr. certified a class action consisting of 118 OEA retirees who alleged the association violated the Labor-Management Relations Act by modifying their retiree health benefits (44 EBC 2868).

The OEA is a union ...