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Sunday, August 1, 2004
Halliburton initiated a lawsuit against some of its retirees for complaining. When the company announced back in November that it was going to cut off health insurance for its retirees eligible for Medicare, three of the retirees wrote the company and complained. Halliburton then promptly filed a lawsuit against them. "I was flabbergasted," said Paul Bryant, one of the three executives charged with complaining and a former vice president of human resources for Halliburton until he retired in 1999.
According to an employment lawyer, Halliburton’s move was most likely a pre-emptive strike, figuring the next step from the former employees would be to sue the company. By suing first, Halliburton can choose where the case is filed and will have a chance to present its case first.
The issue at hand is whether Halliburton is required to meet the terms of its merger with Dresser Industries in 1998. The three former executives insist the company has to abide by the terms of the merger. Bryant, himself a former Dresser employee, was on the negotiating committee for the merger. And as the head of human resources, he made presentations to employees about the effects of the merger and remembers telling them that the merger agreement provided lifetime retiree health care.
In its January 2004 lawsuit, Halliburton argues it spelled out repeatedly in plan documents that it retained the right to change or terminate its health insurance plans. And it promised to retain benefits for just three years in its merger agreement with Dresser.
David Beck, a trial lawyer with Beck, Redden & Secrest who is representing the retired employees, said the three-year time limit refers to the benefits provided to current employees but not to retirees. "They’re trying to take the three-year limitation on one provision and apply it to another," Beck said. "But if the provision in dispute was intended to be limited to just three years, it would have said it was limited to just three years."
A spokesperson for Halliburton sent out an email commenting on the lawsuit which said that the company filed the suit "to provide prompt resolution concerning the validity of the program amendments so that the program participants could arrange for other medical coverage, above what they receive through Medicare, if desired."
"Halliburton strives to provide competitive benefits packages to its employees and retirees and also to treat similarly situated employees fairly and equally," the spokesperson added.
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