A Supreme Court ruling this week could have negative implications for medical benefit plans, pensions and profit sharing plans.
In Montanile v. Board of Trustees of the National Elevator Industry Health Benefit Plan, the Board was attempting to get plan participant Robert Montanile to repay $121,000 in medical expenses it paid out after he was in a car accident. As part of the company’s policy, he was legally obligated to repay the money if he received a third-party settlement in the case. Montanile sued the drunk driver who hit him and recovered a $500,000 settlement. Instead of repaying the plan, he paid his attorney fees and spent the rest of the settlement money on what the court called non-traceable items, such as food and childcare.
