PROVIDENCE – Gov. Gina M. Raimondo signed a bill into law Tuesday that is designed to incentivize the parties in the St. Joseph Health Services of Rhode Island Retirement Plan to settle their class action lawsuits.
The plan became insolvent soon after the 2014 purchase by Prospect Medical Holdings Inc. and CharterCare Community Board of St. Joseph Health Services of Rhode Island Inc., putting the benefits of about 2,700 current and former employees of Our Lady of Fatima Hospital and Roger Williams Medical Center at risk.
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The legislation comes after Stephen Del Sesto, court-appointed receiver for the collapsed St. Joseph Health Services pension plan, filed suits in R.I. Superior Court and U.S. District Court on June 19 against Prospect Medical Holdings, Prospect CharterCare, the Roman Catholic Diocese of Providence and others for wrongdoing in the plan’s failure, demanding the plan be made whole.
The legislation the governor signed provides that a settlement or payment from a party in the pension fallout will not discharge other wrongdoers from their liabilities to pension holders. However, a payment or settlement from one of the violating parties will reduce the claim against the other parties.
“Members of the St. Joseph’s pension plan dedicated their careers to working at St. Joseph’s, only to have the rug pulled out from under them through no fault of their own,” said Raimondo in a statement. “I know many of those affected rely on their pensions for their livelihood, and I hope this legislation expedites an agreeable settlement.”
The governor’s office said that the legislation will, “incentivize settlement by better positioning members of the insolvent plan to reach fair, equitable settlements with the multiple defendants of the lawsuits.”
Senate President Dominick J. Ruggerio, D-North Providence, said of the legislation, “This legislation affords [pensioners] a proven legal strategy that has been used successfully to encourage settlements in other high-profile cases in Rhode Island. Our intent is that it will result in a swift settlement that will make the pensioners whole or as close to whole as possible.”
Chris Bergenheim is the PBN web editor.
