Page 14 - July 2017 Newsletter

The retiree health insurance ruling and what it means
Here is an analysis from attorney Clint Kris- lov of the appellate court ruling on the “Un- derwood vs. City of Chicago” retiree health insurance case that just came down:
with the Article 13, Section 5 protections) will not offer the same benefit to the rest of the group.
The fight continues and contributions are appre- ciated to...
Clint Krislov, Krislov Law
20 N. Wacker Drive, Suite 1300 Chicago, IL 60606
312-606-2520 mail@Krislovlaw.com
Well, there’s good news, bad news and multiple paths to pursue.
RECORDING
Secretary
GREG BELLA
The good news is that the covered class, entitled to lifetime benefits, is greatly ex- panded, definitely including all of Class 3
Is anyone surprised?
Now that murders have come to the Near North and Gold Coast, is it finally getting real? The mayor and al- derman are scrambling to find a solution. They are go- ing to shut down the Ohio Street underpass. Why would you leave all the South Side underpasses open? Chicago’s crack media is all over the story. Too bad they don’t ask the right questions.
All the murders and shootings even got a reaction from Cook County State’s Attorney Kim Foxx. She is putting to- gether a gang prosecution unit. I didn’t know the old unit was dismantled. I am sure the media will ask the right questions.
The mayor, the Department and the media keep tout- ing that murders and crime are down in the City this year. Not one person in the neighborhoods believes any of them. I was listening to some customers at the cleaners talking about a recent shooting that occurred at LeMoyne and Damen. They don’t believe shootings are down and question the mayor’s plan. They don’t believe the mayor, don’t feel safe and worry if the neighborhood is returning to the wild west of the ’70s or ’80s.
My only question is why is everyone shocked? The poli- ticians have legislated us to the point that proactive polic- ing is dead. The media keeps perpetuating the anti-police hysteria. Politicians get in front of the cameras teary-eyed, pleading for the violence to stop, and as of today none of these entities has come forth with one thing to solve the problem. The legislators made the penalties for convict- ed felons caught with a gun stiffer. The press conference showed them all backslapping like they found the solu- tion to the problem. Here’s a news flash: The gangbangers don’t know the law got tougher, and if they do know, they don’t care. You haven’t solved anything. Not one gang- banger is going to say, “I can’t go on a mission because of tougher gun penalties.”
The politicians and the media never ask a beat cop for the answer to this plague, and it is probably because they won’t like the answer. There is a direct correlation be- tween street stops and reducing crime. The street stops prevent shootings and murders. With the climate that has been created in Chicago, it is time for hard choices and even harder decisions. It is too bad the politicians don’t have the intestinal fortitude to do what is necessary to protect the people of Chicago. d
and most of Class 4 — everyone whose first hire date was before June 16, 2003.
The decision seems to indicate that everyone who be- came a “participant in the system” (i.e., hired by the 2003 settlement) is entitled to lifetime benefits. This is a large number of people, far larger than just Class 1 and 2 (those who retired by Aug. 23, 1989 — the Korshak and windows retirees). It includes all of Class 3 (hired by Aug. 23, 1989) and most of Class 4 (hired after Aug. 12, 1989), excepting only those who started working for the City after the June 16, 2003, settlement was signed.
I actually think the court got this one a little short be- cause the settlement seems to preserve rights for everyone who is, or becomes, an annuitant prior to the settlement’s expiration. I don’t think there are likely to be any post-2003 hires who have retired yet.
So that said, the covered class is now very much larger than it was. And the appellate court rejects the City’s asser- tion that Class 3 is barred by limitations for not making the claim within 10 years after 1989, which Judge Cohen had left open for future determination.
The bad news is that the appellate panel views the only protectable benefit as the statutes in 1983 and 1985, which provide the City subsidy at $55/21 per month for police and fire and $25 per month for municipal and laborers. The ruling also rejects the idea that the City can be held liable for promises at years of pre-retirement seminars. It doesn’t mention those of you in Class 3A, hired before April 1, 1986, none of whose City employment qualifies them for Medi- care.
It now may be worth asking the Illinois Supreme Court to take the case. We’ve got 35 days (or following a rehearing request) in which to petition the Illinois Supreme Court. And we’ll see if the City or the Funds want to request re- hearing on some of these issues as well.
This would seem to leave the Funds still with primary responsibility to provide an affordable retiree healthcare plan for their retirees, something they have disavowed.
The court clearly felt that it would make everyone un- happy by this decision, maybe thinking it will drive ev- eryone to sit down and settle. But it leaves some things untouched, such as the Special Legislation (by reason of employment by the City of Chicago) argument. And it also does not address whether the City, having agreed to cover 55 percent of the Korshak and window classes (consistent
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