Retirees sue Weyerhaeuser over terminated health benefits

Forest-products manufacturer Weyerhaeuser Co. violated earlier promises to its retired employees by first cutting and then terminating health benefits for several thousand retirees, according to a lawsuit filed in federal court.

Four retired Weyerhaeuser employees charged in the suit, filed Wednesday in U.S. District Court in Portland, Oregon, that Weyerhaeuser's action in 2011 to replace its retiree medical plan with a health reimbursement arrangement in which the company contributed just over $1,300 a year to retirees' HRAs, followed by its decision in 2015 to eliminate the HRAs, clashed with earlier commitments to provide coverage.

In 2009, for example, according to the suit, the company's top executive, wrote in correspondence outlining a new health care plan, that the company remained “committed to offering medical benefits to retirees.”

The suit, filed by the law firm Haglund Kelley L.L.P. in Portland, seeks reinstatement of the benefits consistent with those promised in a 1979 summary plan description document.

A spokeswoman for Federal Way, Washington-based Weyerhaeuser said the company does not comment on pending litigation.