Former Sysco Employee Files COBRA Coverage Class Action

A former Sysco Corporation employee has filed a class action lawsuit against his employer for allegedly failing to sufficiently inform him of his right to continuing health care under COBRA coverage. The former employee said that this violated the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA).

The Sysco ERISA violation class action lawsuit was filed by Danny W. He says that he worked for Sysco from July 20, 2018 to Nov. 22, 2018, when he was “abruptly terminated.” Allegedly, he was not fired from his job for gross misconduct. If he had been, he would have been ineligible for COBRA.

According to Danny, the loss of his job qualified him for COBRA coverage under the Consolidated Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act, a law which allows workers who lose their job to continue having access to health care. Danny explains that federal law requires the administrators of a company’s health care plan to inform the employee of their right to this continuing coverage.

He states that the notice must be sufficient to enable the dismissed worker to make an informed choice about whether or not to seek healthcare through COBRA. However, in Danny’s eyes, Sysco allegedly failed to provide sufficient notice.

According to his Sysco COBRA rights class action lawsuit, the company should have been able to provide him with proper documentation, because Sysco had access to the model COBRA form provided by the Department of Labor. The DOL’s website provides compliance information for employers, including tools around health benefits compliance.

Danny argues that Sysco refused to provide proper documentation in an effort to save money. He says that the company was attempting to dissuade employees from choosing to participate in COBRA, or failing to inform them that they were at all qualified.

Such was the case in Danny’s termination, asserts the Sysco lawsuit. Danny says that he received a COBRA notice that was confusing and misleading, to the point that the did not know he was qualified for COBRA coverage, and therefore he could not make an informed choice about continuation of health care and lost coverage. 

Danny argues that this loss caused him financial injury because he lost access to health insurance and incurred medical bills. He also says that he was informationally injured because he was not given access to the data to which he was entitled, and statutorily injured because he was denied information to which he was entitled by statute. 

He goes on to say that he was further injured as a result of Sysco’s failure to properly inform him of his right to participate in COBRA coverage because he refrained from seeking medical treatment after losing his health insurance. 

The Sysco ERISA compliance class action lawsuit notes that under ERISA, most employers who employ more than 20 employees “on a typical business day” the previous year must allow employees who lose their coverage to have the option of continuing their coverage through COBRA. Danny asserts that per these stipulations, Sysco does qualify, and is therefore at fault. 

The Department of Labor explains that ERISA may require workers to pay the premiums that their employer previously paid to qualify for healthcare under COBRA. Though it may be expensive, for many workers, it is better than having no access to healthcare.

Allegedly, Sysco had the duty to inform workers of their rights under COBRA, because workers cannot be “expected to know instinctively of their right to continue their healthcare coverage.”

Danny states that Sysco dodged its responsibility not only to him, but to many other employees. He argues that the company routinely fails to provide adequate COBRA notification to workers.

The Sysco Terminated Employee COBRA Notice Class Action Lawsuit is Case No. 2:20-cv-02374-MSN-cgc, in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Tennessee, Western Division. 

Join a Free COBRA Class Action Lawsuit Investigation

If you received a COBRA notice that did not fully disclose your rights and how to retain your health insurance following separation from your job, or you received no notice at all, you may be qualify to join this COBRA notice class action lawsuit investigation.

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