JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – The City of Jacksonville is facing up to a $500 million pension problem. More than 1,500 city employees are battling Jacksonville in Federal Court. According to the lawsuit obtained by action news, hundreds of workers and their families were illegally excluded from the city's pension plan.
“Many of them will have to work 5, 10, 15, sometimes 20 more years in order to earn their pension,” said plaintiff’s attorney Bob Sugarman.
Sugarman says at the center of City Hall's controversy is workers who failed a physical exam. Sugarman alleges that under the Americans with Disabilities Act, no city employee can be denied entrance into the program based on a pre-existing condition. Cases ranged from every day conditions like high blood pressure to serious ailments like cancer.
“These people are being discriminated against, against federal law because of what a medical exam showed and that had absolutely nothing to do with their ability to work,” said Sugarman.
Action News has learned the lawsuit could cost the city up to $500 million over a 30-year period.
City Attorney Cindy Laquidara released this statement, "this case actually involves complex legal issues, which have been briefed, heard by the court and lie with the able court to reach a determination."
Laquidara admitted that some employees were kept out of the pension plan, but for good reason. Meanwhile, Sugarman says his clients deserve credit for their years of service.
“These workers, just like their co-workers are entitled to the same pension that other people got,” said Sugarman.
U.S. District Judge Timothy Corrigan now has to decide whether to throw the case out or move forward with it as a class-action lawsuit. Judge Corrigan did not say when he expects to make that decision.
