Deere Retirees Suit, Now A Class

A federal lawsuit against Moline, IL-based Deere & Co. filed by a group of retirees, has now been deemed a class action lawsuit, Insurance Journal reports. The retirees claim that changes to the benefits package put in place last year “eliminated, reduced and dramatically altered” their benefits and they are seeking to have their previous benefits levels restored.



Deere has said there never was a guarantee that plans wouldn’t change, and that the changes that were made allowed the retirees more health care decisions. The plaintiffs say in the lawsuit that there are more than 5,000 members of the class who were affected by the changes in Deere’s retirement plan.



Last month, the judge certified the class action status on two counts alleged in the lawsuit. The first claims that Deere violated the Employee Retirement Income Security Act and terms of the benefits plans. In the other, the plaintiffs allege Deere violated disclosure and claims procedure requirements and other regulations. The two counts that don’t yet have class action status claim that the company breached its fiduciary duty and that it made promises to retirees about continued benefits while knowing that it intended to consider reducing or eliminating some of those benefits.



Deere has moved for summary judgment on the class action counts and the judge will hear motions at the end of March.