Court says no to rehearing hospital case

The West Virginia Supreme Court has unanimously refused to rehear an appeal of the case of 15 War Memorial Hospital employees who were granted a partial victory in their battle for the surplus in a retirement fund.

The 5-0 decision means the Morgan County Commissioners and War Memorial Hospital have again lost their bid for the state’s highest court
to overturn a ruling favoring the employees by
Judge John Yoder in Morgan County Circuit Court.
Judge Yoder ruled in July 2009 that the employees have a right — and are the only people with a right — to the nearly $675,000 surplus in the pension plan.

The commissioners and the hospital had been trying to gain the surplus to use toward the new hospital under construction.

Upholding Yoder’s decision in June, the State Supreme Court unanimously ruled that the only real option, once the plan was terminated by the hospital in 2003, was to divide the assets among the participating employees.

A hearing to determine how to distribute the funds had been expected this summer, but was delayed due to the county commissioners’ petition for a rehearing of the appeal.

Other issues still to be resolved include the employees’ claims of breach of fiduciary duties by hospital officials. They are seeking more than $1 million in damages, interest and attorney fees.

At press time, no hearing date had been set.