United class action alleges airline wrong to withhold benefits from retirees

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United voluntary separation leave program class action lawsuit overview: 

• Who: Donna Loucks, Roxann Merlini and Jo Gawler filed a class action lawsuit against United Airlines Inc. 
• Why: Loucks, Merlini and Gawler claim United is wrongfully withholding access to its voluntary separation leave program benefits to employees who retired within three years before the program was presented.
• Where: The class action lawsuit was filed in California federal court.

United Airlines wrongfully denied certain former employees access to its Frontline Voluntary Separation Leave program, a new class action lawsuit alleges. 

Plaintiffs Donna Loucks, Roxann Merlini and Jo Gawler claim that in August 2017, United’s then-CEO Oscar Munoz sent out a letter promising that if the company offered “an early out within 36 months after you retire, you would be eligible for the financial benefits of the program even after retiring.”

Despite this, the plaintiffs argue, they were denied access to the program despite retiring within three years of it being offered. 

United first offered its Frontline Voluntary Separation Leave program on Jan. 21, 2021, as an incentive for employees to retire so the airline could reduce its workforce.

Class action: United voluntary separation leave program should have been offered to plaintiffs

The plaintiffs claim the benefits offered in United’s Frontline Voluntary Separation Leave program were superior to the ones they were given in their retirement packages, meaning they should have been able to participate in the program. 

United “falsely asserted,” however, that the Frontline Voluntary Separation Leave program was not an “early out” program and thus did not need to be offered to employees who had already retired, per Munoz’s 2017 letter, the class action lawsuit alleges. 

The plaintiffs argue the Frontline Voluntary Separation Leave program is in fact an “early out” program as it is “identical” to two previous voluntary separation programs offered by United that were considered early out programs.

The plaintiffs claim United is guilty of breach of contract and in violation of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974. 

The plaintiffs are demanding a jury trial and requesting the enhanced benefits offered by the Frontline Voluntary Separation Leave program be given, with interest, to themselves and all class members. 

The plaintiffs want to represent a class of former United employees who retired within 36 months of Jan. 21, 2021, and who were at least 45 years of age with 15 years of United service. 

A separate class action lawsuit was filed against United in 2016 by two Hawaii residents claiming the airline’s checked bag policy put the safety of passengers at risk. 

Have you been denied access to United’s Frontline Voluntary Separation Leave program? Let us know in the comments.

The plaintiffs are represented by Jeffrey Lewis and David S. Preminger of Keller Rohrback LLP and Mark D. DeBofsky of DeBofsky Sherman Casciari Reynolds PC. 

The United voluntary separation leave program class action lawsuit is Loucks, et al. v. United Airlines Inc., et al., Case No. 2:22-cv-01604, in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California.

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