Beaufort County to pay $700k settlement to 40 former employees over health benefits
Beaufort County will pay its former employees almost $700,000 after agreeing to settle a lawsuit for cutting health benefits for retirees in 2016.
The lawsuit, filed on behalf of 40 former Beaufort County and Bluffton Township Fire District employees, alleged that the county broke its contract with employees in 2016 when it took away health coverage benefits from several hundred current and former employees.
In March 2015, Beaufort County Council voted unanimously to rescind health coverage benefits from 95 retirees and 590 workers eligible to receive it upon their retirement.
The previous policy, which ended in July 2016, allowed employees who retire after more than 10 years of service or more than 25 years with the Bluffton Township Fire District to continue health and dental coverage for themselves and any dependents.
Shortly after the coverage ended, several former employees with the county, Beaufort County Sheriff’s Office and Bluffton Fire sued the county and Bluffton Fire for breach of contract.
Several employees were forced to work past their planned retirement date due to the county’s decision to end health coverage for retirees, the lawsuit alleged.
After years of litigation, Beaufort County has agreed to settle the claim and will pay the former employees a total of $695,000 if approved by council.
However, the county still will not provide health and dental coverage to retirees, spokesperson Liz Farrell said Monday.
On Monday, Beaufort County’s finance committee agreed to pay the settlement with money from the county’s general fund. The lawsuit will be settled once the full council approves the payment on three readings, according to county documents.
Cutting health coverage
In November 2003, Beaufort County Council passed a resolution that allowed employees with at least 10 years of service to continue their health and dental coverage through Blue Cross Blue Shield.
In 2008, the council revoked the policy for new employees, stating that only employees who were grandfathered in could continue receiving health benefits after retiring.
In March 2015, the council terminated all county health benefits for employees already in retirement and for current employees who would’ve been eligible upon retiring.
When the policy went into effect in June 2016, it eliminated health coverage to 95 retirees and 590 current employees who were eligible upon retirement.
Another 10 Bluffton Township Fire District retirees lost coverage, and about 95 current employees were entitled to it.
The benefits were cut due to rising costs, officials said in 2015.
Beaufort County was paying about $380,000 in annual contributions to health care premiums for the retirees, former deputy county administrator Josh Gruber said in 2015. The retirees paid the rest of the $323,000 cost.
“The numbers are what the numbers are,” Gruber said in 2015. “The cost to continue providing this benefit has reached a tipping point that is no longer sustainable.”
On July 21, 2016, 16 former Beaufort County and Bluffton Township Fire District employees sued the county and fire district for the loss of health coverage. Over time, more defendants were added to the lawsuit.
The lawsuit was taken off the docket in 2018 and then re-added in July 2019.
Contacted about the settlement, Danny Henderson, one of the attorneys representing the employees, said in an email his law firm was “working w/ Beaufort County officials and attorneys towards a resolution” and there was nothing else to report.
This story was originally published April 21, 2020 at 4:45 AM.
