CODRESF

City of Duluth Retired Employees Security Fund

P. O. Box 16794

Duluth, MN 55816

March 12, 2010

To:       Fellow Retirees

From:  Retirees Ad Hoc Committee to keep our Health Care Benefits

Re:      Contribution request and an update on our Class Action Lawsuit

CURRENT STATUS: As you are aware, a restraining order to keep the City of Duluth from implementing health care Plan 3A on retirees failed in a ruling by Judge Kenneth A. Sandvik in December of 2009. This decision resulted in the City of Duluth placing all retirees on health care Plan 3A and the prescription drug plan currently used by active employees. These changes were made effective January 1, 2010. This change in health care coverage is going to cost us all and will most likely result in further reductions of benefits in the future. We request that all affected retirees, spouses and dependents keep a record of their health care expenses for possible later reimbursement. We are appealing the decisions made by Judge Sandvik.

COURT OF APPEALS: Our attorney(s) have completed and filed all necessary documents as part of our appeal process to the Minnesota Court of Appeals. This included obtaining all court documents and affidavits related to our case, about 600 pages in all, which needed to be indexed for the Appeals Court review. A separate "Appellants Brief" consisting of 30 indexed pages was also prepared for the Court. It is our opinion that these documents were very professionally prepared and present our case very strongly. The filing was completed February 5, 2010. The City has 36 days to respond to our brief and then we respond again with a final brief. The Appeals Court consists of three Judges who will designate a time, place and length of presentation.. We are hoping for Duluth, Minnesota. The Appeals Court has one year from the date of the original filing ( November 2009) to hear our case. We are extremely hopeful that the Court of Appeals will rule in favor of us retirees.

LEGAL FUND: This case has gone on much longer than anyone anticipated. Again, we need to ask each retiree to contribute toward our continuing legal expenses. Many of you have contributed at least once, some twice and some three times. We hope that you will continue to support us and contribute another $100.00 each. Please make your contribution payable to CODRESF. Mail to: City of Duluth Retired Employees Security Fund, P.O. Box 16794, Duluth, MN. 55816 (an addressed envelope is provided). Thank you!

NOTE: We have updated our mailing list with the most current information available to us. It is very difficult to maintain accurate information and changes to retiree addresses and status. Please contact one of the committee members listed below to report any new information.

Please don’t hesitate to contact any of the following Ad Hoc Committee members for information or visit our web site www.duluthretirees.org and www.aperg.org.