THE STRUGGLE OVER RETIREE MEDICAL BENEFITS - WHOS ON TOP

Over the past decade, there has been an explosion of litigation addres sing an employer's right to unilaterally amend or terminate medical be nefits provided to retirees. The sheer volume of these cases and the v ariety of facts and legal theories have combined to obscure the patter ns and trends that actually are emerging from this litigation. This ar ticle will describe the context of the struggle over retiree benefits and discuss those leading decisions in which the federal courts of app eals have established their rules for deciding retiree benefits cases.