The Los Angeles Police Protective League’s Board of Directors has authorized litigation on the Two-Percent Retiree health subsidy fearing the city would strip control over the retiree health subsidy increases from the Fire and Police Pension Board who historically has set the rate of the subsidy.
This comes less then six months after the LA City Attorneys Association filed it’s lawsuit in March 2012, challenging the freeze on retiree health subsidy increases, and the California Supreme Court ruling in November 2011 where the court found that, “under California law, a vested right to health benefits for retired county employees can be implied under certain circumstances from a county ordinance or resolution” that case was RETIRED EMPLOYEES ASSOCIATION OF ORANGE COUNTY, INC., v. COUNTY OF ORANGE.
In 2011 Eric Garcetti, Matt Szabo, and Mayor Villaraigosa spearheaded an illegal removal of vested benefits forcing civilian employees to pay 4% of their salary towards the retiree health care subsidy increases, later forcing Sworn employees to choose to pay 2% for the retiree health care subsidy or forego the benefit at the time of retirement. Sworn employees normally retire up to 10 years earlier then their civilian counterparts and would require more of the subsidy in future years.
Below is the article from the LAPPL written by Vice President and LAPD Officer Corina Lee
Two percent contribution for retiree medical subsidy
The Board of Directors authorized litigation on the issue of the 2 percent contribution for the retiree medical subsidy.
The litigation is very specific to address whether or not the Los Angeles Fire and Police Pensions
(LAFPP) board has the discretion to set the annual amount of the retiree medical subsidy and/or any future
increases to the subsidy for members who are paying the additional 2 percent pursuant to the Letter of Agreement.
The LAPPL Board of Directors contends that the Letter of Agreement does not give the LAFPP board the
discretion to set the retiree medical subsidy increases.
The Letter of Agreement states employees have a vested
right to receive, upon retirement, an annual increase in subsidy of the lesser of the maximum amount (7 percent)
authorized by the Los Angeles Administrative Code (LAAC), provided all other conditions of eligibility
prescribed in the LAAC are met or the actuarial medical inflation rate will decide the increase for that year.
As new developments occur, the Board of Directors will keep the membership informed.