PITTSBURGH — The Pittsburgh police union has filed a court petition asking a judge to hold the city in contempt, claiming officials refused to reinstate health care benefits for widows of retired police officers, even after a court ruling.
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The new filing seeks to enforce a court order after previous legal appeals by the city were unsuccessful.
According to the union, the city has reinstated health care benefits for only one widow despite losing its legal appeals.
Union officials state that approximately 389 widows were affected by the benefit denials, alleging the city owes up to $5 million in health care reimbursements.
Mary Sansone, the widow of a retired Pittsburgh police officer whose husband passed away earlier this year, had her $270 monthly health care benefit pulled two weeks after his death.
Sansone said she was given little time to navigate the loss and secure coverage.
“I was shocked. I just lost my husband,” Sansone said. “We had to make funeral arrangements, and I had 12 days with the grieving process that they didn’t give me to find health insurance.”
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Following inquiries by Channel 11 News Chief Investigator Rick Earle, the city agreed to withdraw its final appeal and reinstate Sansone’s benefits.
Pittsburgh Mayor Corey O’Connor said he contacted Sansone directly regarding the reinstatement. “I personally called her earlier this week and said it worked out and went through, you know we’re going to make sure that you stay whole and make sure that everything that you are owed rightfully that you get paid,” O’Connor said.
Despite Sansone’s reinstatement, the union contends that hundreds of other widows remain excluded.
According to the union, the city maintains that the court award “only pertains to those retirees who passed away after April 15, 2021,” when the initial grievance was filed by the union. The union disagrees with that position, stating that 389 widows were affected by the denial and that 125 widows died after being denied benefits.
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Addressing the overall review process, O’Connor said the city must evaluate cases individually.
“There are so many out there, and each one is completely different, and you have to go through a process to figure out where that is. But we have to stay on top of it,” O’Connor said.
A judge will set a hearing date on the union’s petition to enforce the court order.
The City of Pittsburgh provided 11 Investigates with this statement Friday:
“The FOP’s motion is without merit. The FOP jumped into court despite the City’s good faith efforts in recent months. Some examples of these good faith efforts:
- “The City voluntarily withdrew its appeal in a related matter in August.
- “The City changed the policy that had been continued through the Gainey Administration of removing survivors from City healthcare coverage upon the death of the police-retiree spouse. The City is no longer removing widows or other survivors from healthcare coverage based on the death of their spouse.
- “Since changing the policy, the City has reviewed the eligibility of individual widows who have sought to be reenrolled in the City’s healthcare coverage, and has begun to reinstate healthcare coverage to eligible widows. The City will continue to do so.
- “The City is in the process of gathering the information it needs to make restitution to survivors covered by the Miles Award who are not otherwise excluded from coverage (per the Collective Bargaining Agreement). We are working on compliance.”
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