Judge approves $90 million settlement in Boeing benefits suit

A federal judge in Wichita has approved a settlement that will require Boeing to pay $90 million to settle a 10-year-old class action lawsuit over pension and retiree health benefits for some former Boeing Co. employees represented by the Society of Professional Engineering Employees in Aerospace and two other unions.

In a written order filed Thursday in U.S. District Court for the District of Kansas, Judge Monti Belot approved the settlement agreement following a settlement fairness hearing in Wichita last month.

“The Court finds that the Settlement embodied in the Settlement Agreement is fair, reasonable, and adequate, and was entered into by Boeing and Settling Plaintiffs in good faith and without collusion,” Belot wrote in his order.

The settlement stems from a lawsuit filed in federal court by the SPEEA in 2005 that alleged some union-represented workers at Boeing who went to work for Spirit AeroSystems following the sale of Boeing’s commercial operations in Wichita did not receive the pension and retiree health benefits they were due.

According to the lawsuit, the benefits were owed the workers under collective bargaining agreements with the SPEEA, the International Association of Machinists and the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers.

This story was originally published September 4, 2015 at 10:07 AM with the headline "Judge approves $90 million settlement in Boeing benefits suit."