Galenski v. Town of Erving

Plaintiff, a former school principal of six years in the Town of Erving, sought contribution by the Town to the cost of her group health insurance premiums. The Town had adopted Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 32B, 9E (“the statute”), which required it to contribute over fifty percent of the health insurance premiums of all of its retirees. Before employing Plaintiff, however, the Town enacted a policy under which it would only contribute to the group health insurance premiums of retired employees who had retired after a minimum of ten years of employment with the Town. Consequently, the Town determined that Plaintiff was not eligible for contribution by the Town to her health insurance premiums. Plaintiff filed suit asserting that the Town violated her right to payment to a portion of her group medical insurance premiums as statutorily required. The superior court entered judgment in favor of Plaintiff and issued a permanent injunction prohibiting the Town from enforcing its policy. The Supreme Judicial Court affirmed, holding (1) the terms of the statute govern whether and in what amounts the Town must contribute to the cost of a retiree’s health insurance premiums; and (2) the Town’s retirement policy imposing a minimum term of service as a prerequisite to premium contributions from the Town is invalid. View "Galenski v. Town of Erving" on Justia Law