The legal opinion that was developed by the Buffalo based law firm, Rupp, Baase, Pfalzgraf, Cunningham, Coppola LLC states that we “have a right under law and under Xerox policy to the healthcare benefits that Xerox has eliminated or that it will eliminate in 2010” and that “Xerox’s attempts to reduce or eliminate these benefits are unlawful and actionable”. Opinions we have gotten from several attorneys have been in agreement with the merits of our cause and have supported pursuing legal actions after satisfying all required administrative remedies. The Board sees the mission of ARXE as one of strong advocacy and as such cannot take a view that this benefit elimination should be left unchallenged. The ARXE Board has agreed to take all necessary actions beyond the development of this legal opinion.

We have exhausted all administrative remedies seeking a reversal, and on September 29, 2009 we initiated a Class Action legal proceeding to seek damages and to protect our rights as retirees.

The cost of this action is well beyond what any of us as individuals could support. This is where the power of having our Association membership is of paramount importance.

Flex Plan retirees have lost or will lose their benefits allowance when they turn 65. Even the Old Plan and New Plan retirees are at substantial risk of losing benefits when Xerox decides to make changes to their plans as well.

You have completed your 2010 Open Enrollment and felt the impact of the increases in premium costs and the reduction of your choices.  Medicare Eligible Flex retirees were confronted with the impacts of the elimination of their allowances.   

For a Flex Plan retiree, the lifetime loss of benefits allowances after age 65 is on the order of $28,000 or more and an additional $22,000 or more for a partner. For most couples this is a loss of $50,000 or more. This is certainly worth fighting for and this has got to be worth joining the effort we are initiating!

Is saving your benefit worth $100 to you? We now need every Xerox retiree to help fund this legal action with a contribution of at least $100 to our newly established ARXE Legal Fund. This is not the time to sit back and watch others carry the burden of this fight.

As of June 1, 1288 retirees including a number of non-members have already contributed.  We continue to encourage more of our retirees to participate in the long term funding for this action.  While we are asking for a $100 contribution from each of our 2600 members, we realize that some will only be able to contribute a smaller amount.  Every contribution is important to the effort.

We encourage every Xerox retiree to not only participate in this crucial action, but to join ARXE and actively recruit fellow Xerox retirees into this action since it will likely affect all retirees of our company. Sitting on the sidelines is no longer in all of our best interests… we need everyone to be a contributor to the effort to save their hard earned benefits.  Join more than 1288 retirees who have already made their contribution.

Please send your contributions to:
ARXE Legal Fund
P.O. Box 1613
Fairport, NY 14450

Please make your checks out to "ARXE" and mark your checks, “ARXE Legal Fund”