Important note: Information in this article was accurate in 1995. The state of the art may have changed since the publication date.
Important note: Information in this article was accurate in 1995. The state of the art may have changed since the publication date.
Reuters NewMedia, Inc. - 14 Dec 1995
The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, which announced the settlement Thursday, said these were the first suits of their type to be litigated in federal court. It said the settlement sends a message to insurers that they cannot discriminate on the basis of a disability.
The EEOC had sued the Mason Tender District Council Welfare Fund, which was set up by construction companies and laborers unions, for violating the American with Disabilities Act.
The commission alleged that the fund changed its coverage in 1991 to specifically exclude insurance benefits to workers with AIDS. The fund provides health insurance for about 11,000 mason tenders working the New York metropolitan area.
"This case demonstrates that people with AIDS and other disabilities cannot be denied health coverage," said Spencer Lewis Jr, N.Y. District Director of the EEOC. "The EEOC will not hesitate to prosecute these cases under the ADA and we will seek full relief againast employers who discriminate."
The EEOC said the suits were brought on behalf of 14 workers and their families. It said that 11 of the workers with AIDS have died since the suits were filed in 1993.
Lawyers for the fund had maintained that the disabilities act could not apply to health plans governed by the Federal pension law Employee Retirement Income Security Act, known as Erisa. A federal judge in Manhattan ruled in November 1993 that the fund was not exempt from the disabilities act.
As part of the settlement, the fund will pay compensatory damages, health care claims and out-of-pocket medical expenses to the workers or their survivors.
The fund, which will now cover AIDS, will be required to report any changes in its health plan to the EEOC for the next three years.
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