On October 1, 2015, the settlement agreement was approved by the presiding court.
In general, the settlement offers will be rolling out over the course of the next several months depending on the level of impact
The settlement offers will be sent to Silver, Golub, and Teitell LLP.
Class members who were laid off, bumped, transferred or suffered some other adverse job consequence as a result of the layoffs in 2002/2003 should have received advance notice by mail of the hearing that was held on October 1, 2015. If you believe you fall in this category and did not receive advance mail notice of the October 1 hearing, please contact Silver, Golub and Teitell immediately (860) 785-6585.
The following timelines and descriptions have been provided by Silver, Golub, and Teitell:
What you should now expect (please look to see which of the following four numbered categories applies to you):
- If you were laid off and re-hired within one year:
The State of Connecticut will be sending this office (Silver, Golub, Teitell), on a rolling basis over the next 30-90 days, an offer based on its personnel records of what it believes your losses were as a result of the layoff. Upon our receipt of that offer, we will contact each class member individually to review the State’s offer. If you agree that the State’s offer includes all of the losses for which you are entitled to recover under the Settlement, we will accept the terms. If you do not agree with the State’s calculation, we will work with you to determine a counteroffer to the State. The Settlement Agreement contemplates that the parties can negotiate their differences and, if they do not agree about some or all of the terms, present their differences to the Claims Administrator.
You will also receive an award for emotional distress damages.
If you are still employed by the State of Connecticut, you will receive an award of ten vacation days and five personal leave days. In order to give you the maximum opportunity to use that additional personal leave, you will be credited with that leave effective January 1, 2016. You must use that additional personal leave in calendar 2016.
If you are not still employed by the State, or if your job with the State is not eligible for vacation or personal leave, you will receive an award of $1,500, payable in two equal installments, with the first check payable within 30-45 days.
- If you were laid off for a period greater than one year, if you were demoted, or if you believe that there are some special circumstances or special losses in your case that are not likely to be reflected in the State’s calculation:
The State of Connecticut will be sending this office (Silver, Golub, Teitell) on a rolling basis over the next 60-120 days, a calculation of how it believes your earnings were affected by the adverse job action. Once we receive the calculation from the State of how it believes your earnings were affected, we will contact you to develop additional information relevant to the calculation of your losses, including information about any amounts you may have earned in mitigation of your losses. Based on that additional information, we will make an offer to the State on your behalf. If the State agrees with that offer, it will accept the terms. If it does not agree, it can communicate a counteroffer to us. We will then attempt to negotiate the differences and, if we cannot resolve them, will present those differences to the Claims Administrator.
- If you are in this category because you were laid off for more than one year, you will have to provide to the State information about any earnings that you received from any employment that you had in the period after your first twelve months of layoff. You should begin to collect that information now.
- If you had to pay for health insurance (or had to pay health costs directly because you couldn’t afford health insurance), coverage, you should collect that information now as well.
- If your commute to work was increased by more than 25 miles one way, or if you incurred other costs as a result of a job transfer, demotion or layoff, or you believe that there were any other special circumstances or losses relevant to your case, you should collect that information to share it with us when we receive the initial calculation from the State.
You will also receive an award for emotional distress damages.
If you were laid off:
- and you are still employed by the State of Connecticut, you will receive an award of ten vacation days and five personal leave days. In order to give you the maximum opportunity to use that additional personal leave, you will be credited with that leave effective January 1, 2016. You must use that additional personal leave in calendar 2016.
- and you are not still employed by the State, or if your job with the State is not eligible for vacation or personal leave, you will receive an award of $1,500, payable in two equal installments, with the first check payable within 30-45 days.
If you were demoted, or suffered other form of economic loss compensable under the Settlement Agreement:
- and you are still employed by the State of Connecticut, you will receive an award of four vacation days and three personal leave days. In order to give you the maximum opportunity to use that additional personal leave, you will be credited with that leave effective January 1, 2016. You must use that additional personal leave in calendar 2016.
- and you are not still employed by the State, or if your job with the State is not eligible for vacation or personal leave, you will receive an award of $700, payable in two equal installments, with the first check payable within 30-45 days.
- If you believe that you were made to retire as a result of your receipt of a layoff notice.
The State of Connecticut has no information allowing it to determine whether your retirement was voluntary or occurred under the duress of a layoff notice, and we will, therefore, not receive a calculation on your behalf. If you believe you were forced to retire by a layoff or layoff notice when you otherwise would have continued to work for the State, please contact this office immediately to discuss your options.
- If you did not suffer any economic loss as a result of the layoffs.
If you did not suffer any economic loss and you are no longer employed by the State of Connecticut, you will receive a check for $100 sometime in the next 30-45 days. The State sent a test mailing in mid-September to all individuals who fell into this category to confirm that it had the correct address. If you believe that you are eligible for this $100 payment and did not receive that mailing, please contact this office (Silver, Golub, Teitell).
If you did not suffer any economic loss and you are still employed by the State of Connecticut, you will be credited with an additional 1.25 personal days. In order to give you the maximum opportunity to use that additional personal leave, you will be credited with that leave effective January 1, 2016. You must use that additional personal leave in calendar year 2016.
If you are still an active State employee and your job with the State is not eligible for personal leave credit, you will receive a check for $100 sometime in the next 30-45 days.
There are many class members who will likely have questions about their entitlements. If you contact us in connection with this Settlement, please allow us a number of days to respond. Thank you.
WHAT WE NEED FROM YOU
To be a class member, you must have been employed by the State of Connecticut and a member of a bargaining unit (or, if you were under a working test period or training program, designated membership in a bargaining unit when you completed the test period) as of November 17, 2002.
We need to make sure that we have accurate information about each class member to make sure that you receive the proper award from the settlement. The State will have the necessary records of each class member’s earnings and benefits while employed, but it is important that each class member look for relevant documents to establish what your earnings and benefits were either during any periods in which you were laid off or, if you were never rehired, at any other jobs you held after you were laid off. These documents could include tax returns, W-2 forms, pension statements, and/or benefits statements.
If you laid off, bumped, transferred or suffered some other adverse job consequence as a result of the layoffs, please click here to fill out the Class Member Questionnaire.
Go to www.sgtlaw.com for further information.