The beginnings of this case go all the way back to 2000, when M&G, a chemical company, bought the Point Pleasant Polyester Plant of West Virginia. In doing so, M&G agreed to provide retirees and other dependents with health care benefits. After three years, when the time for re-negotiation came, M&G stopped, and retirees sued, claiming that the agreement required a lifetime of health care benefits. Thus, the following question was posed: how do the courts decide whether benefits last until employee death?
To which the Supreme Court replied vaguely. In a unanimous vote on Monday, January 26th, the Court said that the court of appeals should simply read the contract the same way it would read a normal contract, and make the decision directly from what it says in the text. This decision is not in line with the Sixth Circuit Court's original decision, which gave the retirees the benefits, and is problematic because benefits for life were usually just assumed by the court of appeals. For now, both parties must await the direct interpretation of the contract by the court of appeals, in order to see who will emerge victorious.
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