CHARLESTON — Three men are suing CONSOL Energy alleging it violated federal retirement laws.
Billy Johnson, Ira Martin and Albert Pellillo were employed by CONSOL and worked for at least 10 years and reached the age of 55, according to a complaint filed in U.S. District Court for the Southern District of West Virginia.
The plaintiffs claim the defendant failed to timely produce a summary plan description to the plaintiffs when they adopted a superseding retiree welfare benefits plan in 2011.
"Defendant knew that Plaintiffs had relied on the promise of lifetime benefits, but concealed the risk of loss of those benefits until after Plaintiffs retired," the complaint states.
The plaintiffs claim when CONSOL terminated the retiree welfare plan, it provided lump sum transition benefits to a subset of other retiree plan participants, reflecting a portion of the reasonable present value of the Plaintiffs’ reliance.
However, the plaintiffs claim, the defendant did not provide any such benefits to the plaintiffs and in 2015, the defendant terminated health coverage for all retirees under that plan.
The plaintiffs are seeking compensatory damages. They are represented by Samuel B. Petsonk of Petsonk PLLC and Bren J. Pomponio and Laura Davidson of Mountain State Justice.
U.S. District Court for the Southern District of West Virginia case number: 2:21-cv-00345
