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Romero II is an early retirement benefit cutback case. Prior to 1990, Allstate's agency sales force was comprised of more than 15,000 employees, all of whom were eligible to receive a "superior" package of employee benefits touted as among the best the insurance industry had to offer. One of those benefits was a "beefed up" early retirement benefit under Allstate's pension plan. However, through a series of amendments to its pension plan adopted during the 1990s, Allstate reduced the early retirement benefit and excluded agents operating under one type of contract from accruing any early retirement benefits. We estimate that these amendments cost agents over $100 million in benefits. The lawsuit filed on behalf of the agents claims that these cutbacks on agents' early retirement benefits, along with Allstate's misrepresentations concerning the cutbacks, violated ERISA.
Our motion for class certification before Judge John Fullam in the United States District Court in Philadelphia, PA is pending. The discovery phase of the case has not yet begun.
Co-Counsel: Zevnik Horton, Washington, D.C., Philadelphia, PA; AARP Foundation Litigation, Washington, D.C. The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission has filed a related action challenging the validity of the release that Allstate presented to agents.
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