RIVER CITY FRATERNAL ORDER OF POLICE LODGE 614, INC.; JOHN W. ARNOLD; JAMES DAVID WOOD; GARY W. SIMKINS; JAMES K. LARKIN, WILLIAM M. KERRICK v. KENTUCKY RETIREMENT SYSTEMS, BY AND THROUGH ITS BOARD OF TRUSTEES - Articles

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RIVER CITY FRATERNAL ORDER OF POLICE LODGE 614, INC.; JOHN W. ARNOLD; JAMES DAVID WOOD; GARY W. SIMKINS; JAMES K. LARKIN, WILLIAM M. KERRICK v. KENTUCKY RETIREMENT SYSTEMS, BY AND THROUGH ITS BOARD OF TRUSTEES

Posted by: Karen Belcher on Jun 8, 2021

Court: 6th Circuit Court (Published Opinions)

Attorneys 1: ARGUED: Peter M. Cummins, FROST BROWN TODD LLC, Louisville, Kentucky, for Appellant/Cross-Appellee.

Attorneys 2: ARGUED: David Leightty, PRIDDY, CUTLER, NAAKE & MEADE, PLLC, Louisville, Kentucky, for Appellees/Cross-Appellants.

Attorneys 3: ON BRIEF: Peter M. Cummins, Griffin Terry Sumner, Samuel W. Wardle, FROST BROWN TODD LLC, Louisville, Kentucky, for Appellant/Cross-Appellee.

Attorneys 4: ON BRIEF: David Leightty, PRIDDY, CUTLER, NAAKE & MEADE, PLLC, Louisville, Kentucky, for Appellees/Cross-Appellants.

Judge(s): SUTTON, Chief Judge; CLAY and McKEAGUE, Circuit Judges

Court Appealed: Appeal from the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Kentucky at Frankfort

SUTTON, Chief Judge. Kentucky guarantees free health insurance to public servants who meet the age and years-of-service requirements. When several police officers reached the requisite age under Kentucky law, they retired and began collecting a pension and obtaining free health insurance. Before long, they each came out of retirement, started working for a different state agency, began drawing a new salary, and kept their healthcare. Or so they thought. Kentucky cancelled their health insurance and required them to pay the premiums for the insurance plan offered by their new state employer. The officers sued, claiming that the Commonwealth violated its commitment to provide free healthcare and that this broken promise violated state law. Kentucky defended the lawsuit on a single ground: Federal Medicare law made the Commonwealth do it. The district court granted summary judgment to the officers. It ordered Kentucky to reinstate the officers’ insurance and to pay retroactive money damages. We affirm the order of reinstatement, affirm the damages awards premised on newly incurred insurance premiums, and vacate and remand for further consideration the awards premised on lost wages.

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