From Deseret News archives:
Public workers sue for sick time
The suit seeks the continuation of the state's "Unused Sick Leave Retirement Option" program that will be phased out beginning next year as a result of a bill passed by the 2005 Legislature.
Gov. Jon Huntsman Jr. had met with leaders of the association that represents some 25,000 state workers in an attempt to avoid the legal action. Their first meeting came shortly after the UPEA board voted in mid-May to file suit.
"We need to communicate that the UPEA is serious," said the association's attorney, Ben Hathaway, of the decision to go ahead with the suit Wednesday. "We just needed to send that signal."
Ben Hathaway, the association's attorney, said he is willing to wait "a reasonable amount of time," possibly until the end of August, before he files a motion for an injunction to stop the new law from taking effect at the beginning of next year.
Hathaway said he is looking for a special session of the Legislature to deal with the issue. That's up to Huntsman to call, and Hathaway said the governor has been willing to discuss it. Ultimately, though, the issue would need to be dealt with by lawmakers.
Huntsman's spokeswoman, Tammy Kikuchi, said the governor will continue to work with UPEA. "We don't hold this lawsuit against them," Kikuchi said. "Whatever happens, we will respect the final judgement."
Legislative leaders, however, are not interested in revisiting the issue, according to UPEA President Larry Evans. "We think they're kind of stonewalling," he said. "There's been no real progress, as far as the Legislature moving."
Evans said the decision to file suit Wednesday shouldn't put an end to the association's negotiations with the state. "There are some things we are willing to talk with them about," he said, declining to be specific about what compromises UPEA would offer.
According to the lawsuit, "state employees are notoriously underpaid" and historically have been compensated with "a comparatively generous benefits package" including the program enacted in the early 1980s.
Under the complicated program, retired state workers continue to receive health insurance for up to five years or until they turn 65. They then can purchase medical insurance with unused sick leave, at a rate of one month of coverage for every eight hours of unused time.
HB213, however, would phase out the continued health insurance coverage for all state retirees by 2011 as well as limit how accumulated sick leave can be used to cover health care costs.
The lawsuit cites five unidentified state employees who, along with others, worked for the government "in reliance upon the continuation of the program, foregoing better salaries they could have readily obtained in private or local government employment."
One state employee, for example, is 62 years old and has worked for the state for more than 30 years. If the employee retires after the bill takes effect, he or she would lose more than five years of health insurance coverage.
"We have deadlines," Evans said, noting state employees nearing retirement are trying to figure out what to do. "This goes into effect January 1, and after that negotiations are a moot point."
E-mail: lisa@desnews.com
