Bahr v. MTA 2007 NY Slip Op 50038U January 04, 2007 (Approx. 2 pages)

Petitioner was an employee of New York City Transit Authority. After his retirement, he brought this suit against New York City Transit Authority when he was informed that he would no longer be receiving health insurance as part of his retirement benefits.

Under Respondent’s system, an employee must have five years of credited service to vest in pension benefits and ten years of credited service to vest for health insurance coverage. Petitioner satisfied the requirements for pension benefits, but was improperly given post retirement health insurance. Respondent had sent Petitioner a letter letting him know he was eligible for post retirement health insurance benefits, and after he had received these benefits for two years, Respondent discovered that he in fact was not eligible for these benefits. Subsequently, Respondent sent Petitioner a letter informing him that he was not eligible for health insurance benefits and his coverage would be terminated. After his insurance coverage was terminated, Petitioner requested for the Court to set aside Respondent’s rule that requires ten years of credited service to be eligible for health insurance. The Court decided against Petitioner stating “Petitioner fails to provide the support for the grounds of such relief and the legal authority of the court to grant such.”

The MTA employment website is www.mta.info/mta/employment/index.html