Law Firm Enlists Lockheed Martin Workers in Potential Suit to Challenge Health Care Costs

The New York City Law Firm Fairmark Partners is investigating filing a class action lawsuit against aerospace company Lockheed Martin regarding its handling of employee healthcare premium contributions. As a result, the law firm is soliciting feedback from current and former Lockheed Martin employees on the TopClassActions website. Fairmark cites dramatically increasing healthcare costs as the impetus for its investigation, forecasting that 2024 will bring the largest cost increase in decades. According to Fairmark, Lockheed Martin and other large corporations are passing on these massive increases in healthcare costs to their employees, which amount to about $1 trillion annually. More specifically, Fairmark is asking current and former Lockheed Martin employees the following about healthcare coverage while employed with Lockheed:

• Whether they fully understood the costs and increases in their Lockheed Martin plan when they signed up;
• If they don’t know how Lockheed uses the funds it collects for healthcare premiums;
• If they feel as if they are getting what they pay for; and
• If their raises are negatively impacted by the increased costs of their healthcare premiums.

Lockheed has faced lawsuits over employee benefits in the past. In 2015, the company agreed to pay $62 million to settle claims that it subjected over 120,000 current and former workers to mismanagement, excessive fees, and lost investments from the company stock fund. In 2020, Lockheed paid $115,000 and agreed to other forms of relief to settle a disability discrimination suit filed by the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC). Finally, in 2022, the company agreed to make payments for class members into retirement plans for current employees and issue checks to former employees. HBL has experience in all areas of benefits and employment law, offering a comprehensive solution to all your business benefits and HR/employment needs. We help ensure you are in compliance with the complex requirements of ERISA and the IRS code, as well as those laws that impact you and your employees. Together, we reduce your exposure to potential legal or financial penalties. Learn more by calling 470-571-1007.