David vs Goliath.... IBM has dug in for a fight
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My name is Jurgis (George) Adomavicius, a 70 year old IBM retiree. In the past year IBM had the audacity (no surprise) to change rules controlling access to a long-promised retiree healthcare benefit, HRA (Healthcare Reimbursement Account).
This has upset all retirees who "followed the rules" as published prior to 1/1/2023, and then suddenly, like me, found their account "dormant" in early 2023.
The civil suit I recently filed (11/16/2023) is well described in this article:
Pay particular attention to the comment at the end by OldLady777.
As I cannot match the resources and deep pockets of IBM, I began this journey "pro se" (self representing without an attorney). My HRA funds that are dormant are just over $20,000 or so. And the "outcome" I request is merely restore my (legitimate) access, no punitive damages.... should be an easy thing to go "Ooops, Sorry, OK here you go". But not when you are a repeat and serial discriminator, like IBM, and more recently CEO Arvind Krishna on hot mikes of internal zoom calls.
IBM missed their initial response date (12/9) and then the firm Jackson Lewis contacted me 12/11 requesting more time. I acquiesced and the court granted them to 1/10/2024. I expect a big Motion to Dismiss with some extensive Brief to explain their position. I have reached out to all the local NC law schools for help (denied or crickets), and tried to solicit a variety of lawyers, used the NC Bar Referral service, and even waited on Legal Aid hold for 60 minutes before giving up.
Google research indicated odds of winning "pro se" as 10%. A recent lawyer I interviewed thought that was high. I am close to landing a lawyer to work with (I filed as discrimination under ERISA).. I have a formal EEOC charge filed as well.
Although the "pro se" journey to date has been fascinating and challenging, I do think the odds are against me and I need professional assistance. This was not on my retirement bucket list.
My personal budget for this fight was $2000 to chase $20,000 owed to me. With court filing fees, refer-a lawyer fees, online doc app, some legal books from Amazon (Blacks Law dictionary eg) .. I only have about $1000 left, and would like help to be able to support full legal representation fees.
I have an initial target of $100,000.
I am facing Goliath (IBM) and an army of Philistine lawyers (Jackson Lewis). I sent my first slingshot on 11/16/2023. Please help me win this. There are, I estimate, more than 3000 like me (like OldLady777 in The Register article comments).
Oh, and btw, I think IBM owns the Facebook Group moderators , if not the IBM group then for sure IBM Retiree and IBM Retiree Benefits.. They wont post my lawsuit info. The moderators don't reply to me after few initial stabs at response. Again, no surprise.
https://www.reddit.com/r/IBM/comments/188f5kp/ibm_facebook_moderated_groups/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web2x&context=3
https://www.reddit.com/r/antiwork/comments/188nmwz/i_worked_42_years_at_a_large_corporation_all_i/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web2x&context=3
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jurgis adomavicius
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Cary, NC
