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Latest News

On April 22, 2010, Judge Gettleman issued his Findings of Fact and Conclusions of Law following trial. He ruled against plaintiffs and the class on all claims. Plaintiffs are now considering their options, including the possibility of filing an appeal to the United States Circuit Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit.

Other News

The nine day bench trial concluded on Oct. 8, 2009. At the conclusion of the trial, Judge Gettleman stated from the bench that he hopes to give the parties a decison by the end of the year.

7/27/2009-7/29/09
Bench trial continues.

4/22/2009-4/24/2009
Bench trial begins.

3/16/2009
The bench trial will begin on Wednesday, April 22, 2009 and continue through April 24, 2009. The court will then schedule additional dates as its schedule allows. Class members are encouraged to attend the trial if possible. Please click here for the Class Notice that was sent to class members.

The trial will take place at:

Everett McKinley Dirksen United States Courthouse
Room 1703
219 South Dearborn Street
Chicago, IL 60604 (view map)
Tel.No.: (312) 435-5670

05/07/2007
Court of Appeals Denies Abbott's Request for Permission to File an Appeal of Order Certifying Misrepresentation Claim (pdf)

04/03/2007
Judge Certifies Misrepresentation Claim on Behalf of Class (pdf)

12/30/2005
Judge Certifies Lawsuit As A Class Action (pdf)

09/15/2005
Plaintiffs Ask Judge To Allow Lawsuit To Proceed As A Class Action (pdf)

Welcome to the website for former employees of Abbott Laboratories alleging class action claims under the Employee Retirement Income Security Action of 1974 (“ERISA”) against Abbott Laboratories and Hospira, Inc.

This website was created by Sprenger + Lang PLLC and Meites, Mulder, Mollica & Glink, the two law firms representing the plaintiffs and class members in the lawsuit against Abbott and Hospira that was filed in the United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois.

Claims Against Abbott and Hospira

The Amended Complaint alleges, among other things, that Abbott violated Section 510 of ERISA when the company terminated employees of its Hospital Products Division and related businesses (“HPD”) during a spin-off of HPD into a new company, Hospira. Plaintiffs allege that Abbott Labs did this to prevent these employees from receiving employment benefits. Plaintiffs also allege that Abbott and Hospira adopted no-hire policies that prevented employees from transferring between the two companies for at least two years. These policies, according to the complaint, also interfere with the rights of HPD employees to receive employment benefits and, therefore, violate Section 510 of ERISA. Plaintiffs also claim that even before the spin-off, Abbott knew, but failed to inform employees who were targeted to be spun off, that Hospira would freeze pension plan benefits and would not offer retirement medical benefits. By making misrepresentations about future benefits and by failing to disclose what it knew, Abbott breached fiduciary duties imposed under ERISA.

Class Action Status

On December 30, 2005, Judge Gettleman of the United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois granted plaintiffs' request to certify their lawsuit as a class action. The judge's order allows all of the thousands of former Abbott employees who were terminated by Abbott between August 22, 2003, and April 30, 2004, as a result of its spin-off of Hospital Products Division to participate in and benefit from plaintiffs' lawsuit. On April 3, 2007, Judge Gettleman ordered that additional misrepresentation and omission claims against Abbott would be certified on behalf of the same class of terminated employees. The Judge has also certified a subclass against Hospria of all the former Abbott employees who were eligible for retirement on their day of termination.