Retirees Sue Verizon for Alleged Lost Benefits

Three ex-Verizon employees are going after the phone giant in court for rolling their retirement benefits under the control of another company.

The plaintiffs say their benefits were transferred to Idearc Inc., a Yellow Pages publisher, when it spun off from Verizon more than three years ago. The suit is a class action, and lists 2,000 more former Verizon workers who allegedly had the same thing happen to them.

The lawsuit says Idearc started having financial problems last year and began slashing benefits to retirees. Then it filed for bankruptcy in September 2009. Idearc would not comment to the Dallas Business Journal, while Verizon told the publication that the company provided the retirees with the necessary information when their benefits were transferred.