Suisman Shapiro’s Municipal Team Achieves High Court Reversal in Landmark Benefits Case

Attorneys Kristi Kelly and Kyle Zrenda, along with the firm’s municipal law team, achieved a major victory for the Town of Groton in the Connecticut Supreme Court.

The team persevered through disappointing outcomes in the lower courts and secured a Supreme Court reversal—a decision that directed judgment in favor of the Town. This outcome prevented what could have been significant and costly consequences not only for the Town of Groton but for municipalities across Connecticut.

The case involved retired Groton police officers who argued that they were entitled to the same Health Savings Account (HSA) contributions that the Town provides to active police officers, relying on a 2008 pension agreement that guaranteed retirees the same health insurance “coverage and deductibles” as active employees.

Attorneys Kelly and Zrenda, and the municipal team, successfully argued that HSA contributions are not part of health insurance coverage or a deductible, the Police Officers’ Union specifically agreed that retirees were not to receive HSA contributions, and, therefore, the retirees were not entitled to HSA contributions under the 2008 pension agreement.

The Connecticut Supreme Court agreed, ruling that the financial source by which health insurance coverages, to include a deductible, is paid, is not in and of itself “coverage” or the “deductible” and the Town is not required to provide separate, supplemental benefits—such as HSA contributions—that fall outside the insurance policy itself, particularly where the Town and the Union that bargained the financial benefit for active employees expressly stated so.

“As Groton’s Town Attorney, and a municipal labor lawyer, I am thrilled for the taxpayers of Groton that the Supreme Court understood the nuances of this case, particularly as they relate to public sector collective bargaining and what an HSA truly is,” states Attorney Kelly. “The ramifications of this victory extend far beyond this case and even the Town, as the language at issue, or language similar to it, is not only found in other collectively bargained agreements in Groton but in many public sector labor agreements across the state of Connecticut.”

“This ruling provides clarity for municipalities statewide, ensuring that they are not obligated to extend supplemental financial benefits to retirees unless explicitly required by contract. The decision avoids the expensive and disruptive impact that the earlier rulings could have had on municipal budgets and labor practices, avoiding the imposition of hundreds of thousands of dollars in unintended supplemental benefits upon Groton’s taxpayers without the Town’s legislative body approval.”