Verso Settles Class Suit Over Benefits for Paper Mill Retirees

Paper maker Verso Corp. will provide death benefits of $2,750 to each of 155 union retirees of a now-shuttered paper mill in Wickliffe, Ky., ending a proposed class action filed in the Southern District of Ohio.

The settlement, announced July 17, also provides $3,000 payments to six beneficiaries of deceased retirees, along with $80,000 in fees to the retirees’ lawyers.

The settlement ends a 2017 lawsuit challenging Verso’s decision to terminate the death benefits of union retirees at the Wickliffe mill. The retirees alleged that Verso is bound by an agreement with the United Steelworkers to continue paying life insurance ...