An Oregon Supreme Court ruling Thursday determined the city of Medford is obligated to provide health benefits to its retirees, but only under certain circumstances.

Citing Oregon law, the court ruled the city should make health coverage available to workers who have taken early retirement but with the strong qualifying language of "insofar as and to the extent possible."

If a city can prove that it isn't possible to provide its health plan coverage to retirees under age 65, it would no longer be obligated to offer those health benefits, the ruling said.

Former City Attorney Ron Doyle and three other former city employees filed suit against Medford claiming they were entitled to a bridge health insurance plan until they reached age 65. The other former employees who joined in the suit were Robert Deuel, Benedict Miller and Charles Steinberg.

Doyle, who retired in April 2005, initially asked the city for the opportunity to purchase the same health insurance coverage that is available to current employees, or else provide a lump-sum payment of $90,000 to cover additional insurance and prescription costs.

City Attorney John Huttl said he views the ruling as favorable because the city all along has maintained that the same coverage it has for its employees could not be extended to the retirees.

On Sept. 4, 2009, Jackson County Circuit Court Judge Mark Schiveley wrote in his opinion that the former city employees should have been covered by a bridge health insurance plan until they reached age 65.

Schiveley ruled that the city had health insurance that could have been made available to the retirees.

Huttl said the Supreme Court decision casts doubt on Schiveley's ruling and also on a related case about public works employee Joseph Bova and others. Bova was treated as a separate case because he was employed by the city at the time of his lawsuit, while Doyle and others already had retired.

Schiveley released a ruling Thursday that referred to the Supreme Court ruling as providing further legal standing for his earlier opinion.

"The undisputed facts before this Court were that the City failed to meet its 'responsibility to demonstrate that it was not possible' for the City 'to make the health insurance coverage that they provide to active employees available to retired employees,' " Schiveley wrote.

The judge refused a stay of his earlier judgment requested by the city of Medford.

Steve Brischetto, Portland attorney for Doyle and other former employees, said Schiveley's ruling means the city now is under an injunction to provide health coverage to these former employees.

Brischetto said the Supreme Court ruling provides a clear answer to the question of whether retirees have a right to continue their coverage under certain circumstances.

"The city can be excused from that obligation if it wasn't possible to provide that coverage under all circumstances," he said.

Brischetto said the Supreme Court also determined that his clients have constitutionally protected rights regarding insurance coverage that extend through age 65.

Monetary damages and attorney costs will not be determined until other court cases have had a chance to play out, Brischetto said.

Reach reporter Damian Mann at 776-4476, or e-mail dmann@mailtribune.com.