Administrators Sue District Over Benefits

Retired principals and other administrators in the Orange Unified School District have filed a lawsuit, claiming the school system reneged on a 23-year-old agreement to give free or low-cost lifetime medical benefits.

The suit, filed Friday in Orange County Superior Court, seeks class-action status and as much as $19 million for retired principals, assistant principals and other administrators--as many as 125 of them.

In court papers, lawyers say veteran administrators sacrificed raises or accepted lower salaries in exchange for a 1977 lifetime medical benefits plan for themselves and their dependents. Last September, the lawyers say, the school district issued a memo to retirees that coverage would be changed, forcing the former employees to pay more out of pocket.

“I’m aiming to get the benefits for those employees who have been promised them that the school district is threatening to either eliminate or reduce,” said Northridge lawyer Francis E. Smith, who represents the plaintiffs.

The suit is similar to those filed by retired teachers and classified employees, both of which seek class-action status. The teachers and classified employees have filed $75-million and $35-million suits, respectively, against the district.

Last month, in the case filed by custodial and clerical workers, Orange County Superior Court Judge John C. Woolley said medical plans do change periodically. Orange Unified, he ruled, must provide retirees with the same care as current employees. Woolley is also scheduled to hear the administrators’ case.

Orange Unified’s lawyer, James Bowles, said the same logic should prevail in the most recent case.

“The judge said the principle was you should provide the retirees the same level of benefits as the active [employees],” Bowles said. “If you reduce the actives’ level, you can lower it for retirees. If you raise it for actives, you’ve got to raise it for retirees.”