The state supreme court reversed both rulings of the superior court, stating that the state’s Health Care Authority was required to make an individualized determination, based upon the employee’s actual work circumstances, as to whether the employee was eligible for employer contributions to their health care coverage.
The same group of plaintiffs brought a second lawsuit against the state, this time claiming that the state had miscalculated the number of hours they had taught and thus had not contributed the appropriate amount to their retirement plans. They sought adjusted contributions back to 1977, and a ruling that future contributions would be made correctly. The parties settled this case for $12 mil- lion; $8.3 million for the underpayment of retirement benefits, and $3.6 million in attorney’s fees.