NO. 29359 – Thursday, November 19, 2009 – 9 a.m.

MARION EVERSON, JAMES DANNENBERG, BILLY SOUTHWOOD, VALERIE YAMADA SOUTHWOOD, DUANE PREBLE and SARAH PREBLE, Appellants-Appellees, vs. STATE OF HAWAI`I, and BOARD OF TRUSTEES OF THE HAWAII EMPLOYER-UNION HEALTH BENEFITS TRUST FUND, and JAMES WILLIAMS, as the Administrator of the Hawaii Employer-Union Health Benefits Trust Fund, Appellees-Appellants. (Agency Appeal)

Attorney(s) for Appellee-Appellant & Appellee-Cross-Appellant(s)
Honorable Mark J. Bennett, Attorney General, and Dorothy Sellers and Rebecca A. Copeland, Deputies Attorney General, State of Hawai`i

Attorney(s) for Appellants-Appellee(s)
Paul Alston, Eric G. Ferrer and Maren L. M. Calvert (Alston Hunt Floyd & Ing)
and Charles K. Y. Khim

NOTE: Order assigning Judge Glenn Kim in place of Recktenwald, recused, filed 6/2/09.

NOTE: Order granting and accepting application for transfer, filed 6/10/09.

NOTE: Order granting motion for postponement of oral argument, filed 9/22/09.

COURT: RTYM, CJ; PAN, SRA & JED, JJ. and Circuit Judge Glenn Kim in place of Recktenwald, recused.

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Brief description:

Appellee-Appellant, State of Hawai`;i, and Appellee-Cross-Appellant, Board of Trustees of the Hawai`i Employer-Union Health Benefits Fund (collectively, “Appellants”), appeal from the Circuit Court of the First Circuit’s (“circuit court’s”) August 18, 2008 final judgment in favor of Appellants-Appellees Marion Everson, James Dannenberg, Billy Southwood, Valerie Yamada Southwood, Duane Preble, and Sarah Preble (collectively, “Appellees”). On appeal, Appellants assert that the circuit court erred by concluding that (1) health benefit plans available to retired public employees from the Hawai`i Employer-Union Health Benefits Fund are constitutionally protected by Article XVI, Section 2 of the Hawai`i Constitution, and (2) Hawai`i Revised Statutes (HRS) Chapter 87A requires the EUTF to provide retirees with the same or similar health benefit plans as it provides to active employees.