RALEIGH, N.C. — For the past decade, former state employees have been involved in a lawsuit against the state of North Carolina, regarding certain health care benefits they agreed to in their pensions.
What You Need To Know
The state Supreme Court ruled the retirees were entitled to the plan they signed up for
The court case has lasted a decade
N.C. has hundreds of thousands of former employees
Vann Langston is the president of the North Carolina Retired Governmental Employees' Association, and he has been keeping a careful eye on the case.
He came to the organization after a career as a state education employee.
“Worked my way up through assistant principal, principal, assistant superintendent. Then I went to the State Department of Public Instruction, head of the high school department for a period,” Langston said.
There are hundreds of thousands of former governmental employees, from education workers like Langston, to transportation and public safety workers.
“Our mission is to ensure that society recognizes the contributions of public servants on the one hand and at the same time recognize that they continue to need care in retirement,” Langston said.
The lawsuit came about because the state went back on its promise to employees, Langston said.
“When we signed on to work for the state, we were promised a pension that we contribute to and health care while we’re working and through retirement, and that that health care plan would be an 80/20 plan that would not cost us anything,” Langston said. “Some years back the state changed that and offered only a 70/30 plan for free, and those who needed an 80/20 had to pay for that.”
Recently, the state Supreme Court ruled that the state employees were entitled to the contracts they signed and sent the decision back to a trial court to determine damages.
Spectrum News 1 contacted the state's Department of Human Resources for comment, but did not hear back in time for this report.
After a decade of watching the case, Langston hopes people take more time to appreciate the benefits they get every day from state employees.
“I noticed in recent years there’s developed this notion that if you work for the government that’s because you couldn’t do anything else. You sort of hear that notion. Yet, everybody’s real satisfied with the quality of the gas, the roads, generally except when we pull money back, and they can’t repair,” Langston said. “So I hope that our state can recognize the essential contribution that public servants make.”