In a case that pit its employees against Cigna, the U.S. Supreme Court has ordered the lower courts to re-examine a case that looks at whether Cigna should recalculate the employees’ pension benefits.

This calculation could wind up costing the insurance company as much as $82 million. This recalculation is the result of a federal lawsuit that began in 2001 and was decided in 2008, in which the original trial judge in Connecticut ruled against the company. That judge ordered Cigna to change the Cigna benefits plan. However, the Supreme Court, in a unanimous decision written by Justice Stephen Breyer, said that the judge based his decision on the wrong provision in federal benefits law when he ordered the recalculation.

It was decided by the high court that the judge should review the case again with different provisions that may provide the workers with a similar ruling as the previous one. The lawsuit was filed on behalf of 27,000 employees whom claimed that Cigna’s method for changing the pension plan in 1998 showed that the “summary documents given to employees described a more generous pension-conversion formula than the one Cigna actually used. The workers said that under the company’s formula, some employees could spend significant periods of work without accruing any additional retirement benefits.”

The employees alleged that the summaries of the new plan didn’t properly let them know about the possible bad financial effects of the pension change.

This isn’t the first time Cigna has suffered lawsuits caused by employees. Earlier this year, the company was sued by a female employee for gender discrimination. Cigna has also been sued by various disability insurance policyholders who allege the company treated their disability insurance claims with bad faith by terminating benefits and denying disability insurance claims without cause.

If your disability insurance benefits claim has been denied unjustly by Cigna or if your benefits were terminated abruptly, contact disability insurance attorney Greg Jones today for a free consultation. I am experienced at fighting disability insurance lawsuits and will fight hard to get you the disability insurance benefits that you may be entitled to.