News Notes: Retirees Sue Pacbell Over Severance Plan

In a recent decision, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals has given six former PacBell employees the green light to sue on charges that the company induced them to accept an early retirement package by not disclosing that it was considering offering a better severance program. The court rejected PacBell’s claim that it had no duty to disclose that it was about to offer a more favorable severance plan because there was no certainty that the better plan would ultimately be adopted through collective bargaining with the workers’ union.