GM Class Action Claims Automaker Fails to Tell Workers About COBRA Rights

GM COBRA Class Action Lawsuit Overview:

• Who: General Motors has been hit with a class action lawsuit for alleged COBRA violations.
• Why: A former employee alleges the automaker failed to alert hundreds of thousands of workers to their right to continued health insurance after termination, resulting in serious injuries and loss.
• Where: The case is pending in Michigan district court.

General Motors failed to alert hundreds of thousands of workers to their right to continued health insurance after termination, resulting in serious injuries and loss, a new class action lawsuit alleges.

Angela Crockett, who worked for the automaker as a design release engineer, filed the lawsuit alleging violations of the Consolidated Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act (COBRA), which lays out employees’ right to health coverage upon termination of employment or another “qualifying event.”

Crockett says in the claim that she had medical insurance for herself and her son through GM’s group health plan until she was fired on Feb. 3, 2020. Crocket was not terminated for “gross misconduct” and was, therefore, eligible for continuation coverage. However, she says that GM’s COBRA notice, mailed to her on Feb. 3, “was not written in a manner calculated to be understood by the average plan participant.”

She argues that GM has repeatedly violated The Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA) by failing to provide participants and beneficiaries in the plan with adequate notice, as prescribed by COBRA, of their right to continue their health insurance coverage, which she says is “of enormous importance.”

“The COBRA notification requirement exists because employees are not presumed to know they have a federally protected right to continue healthcare coverage subsequent to a qualifying event,” Crockett argues in the lawsuit.

GM COBRA Letter Fails to Include Termination Date, Identify Plan Administrator, Plaintiff Says

GM’s letter violates the law as it fails to include a termination date for COBRA coverage if elected and also fails to sufficiently identify the Plan Administrator, she says.

Rather than use a model COBRA notice provided by the Department of Labor, Crockett says GM “authored and disseminated a notice which omitted critical information required by law.”

She says that based on those deficiencies, she did not elect COBRA continuation coverage and, as a result, suffered a tangible injury in the form of economic loss, specifically the loss of health insurance coverage for herself and her son.

“Plaintiff also suffered a tangible economic loss, as she was forced to pay for medical expenses for both herself and her son after she lost her health insurance,” the claim reads. “Plaintiff suffered an additional concrete harm in the form of stress and anxiety caused by the loss of her health insurance. Additional time was spent trying to figure out which providers would treat her now that she lacked health insurance.”

Crockett wants to represent anyone sent a COBRA notice from GM. She seeks certification of the class, damages, injunctive relief, legal fees and costs and a jury trial.

Have you ever been sent a COBRA notice that lacked key details? Let us know in the comments section below!

Crockett is represented by Brandon J. Hill and Luis A. Cabassa of Wenzel Fenton Cabassa, P.A. and Chad A. Justice of  Justice For Justice, LLC.

The GM COBRA Class Action Lawsuit is Crockett v. General Motors LLC, Case No. 2:22-cv-10240, in U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan.

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