By The Star Staff
Thirty-eight Puerto Rico Aqueduct and Sewer Authority (PRASA) employees who were denied early retirement have sued the water utility for emotional distress and lost income in federal court.
According to a civil lawsuit filed recently, each employee is seeking $1 million for emotional distress and between $59,144 and $251,797 in actual loss of retirement income when they were denied early retirement after the Financial Oversight and Management Board ordered PRASA to modify its early retire-ment program.
Puerto Rico enacted Act 80, which allowed employees to take early retirement. The lawsuit states that the program allowed employees to retire with 50% of their current pay as retirement benefits instead of 38% when they turned 65.
The oversight board blocked it, arguing that the common-wealth hadn’t budgeted for the cost.
On Dec. 20, 2021, the board filed an adversary proceeding against Gov. Pedro Pierluisi Urrutia and others within the Title III bankruptcy process of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico to stop the implementation of Act 80. After several procedural matters, the employees were eventually declared essential and were not allowed to access the benefits and retire.
“Plaintiffs had and have a property interest in the early retirement process,” the lawsuit said. “Defendants conspired with each other and decided not to allow plaintiffs to take early retirement.”
The name of the case is Velez v PRASA, filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of Puerto Rico on Dec. 18.
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