Recent Court Case Further Affirms Employers Can Overcome Allegations of Notice Violations by Presenting “Mailing Manifest”
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Topics: cobra, court case, law, legal, proof, traviscobra, webcobra
In 2010, the court in Hearst v. Progressive Foam Technologies, Inc. ruled that the TPA raised a presumption of COBRA compliance regarding the mailing of an election notice by presenting a daily “manifest” of notices that was date-stamped by the U.S. Postal Service. In addition to the proof of mailing by the post office, the TPA also showed that, upon notice of a qualifying event, there was a systematic process used to print and mail COBRA election notices to individuals. The case primarily focused on alleged retaliation regarding the QB’s FMLA leave, but included this COBRA violation allegation as well.
The employee appealed to the Eighth Circuit claiming that the employer did not send the COBRA election notice by means “reasonably calculated to be received.” The Eighth Circuit, however, held that the employer through the TPA not only provided evidence of its usual COBRA notice practices, but also that the TPA’s use of those practices for the plaintiff was reasonably calculated to reach him.
While courts have consistently proved that using First class mail along with evidence of a systematic approach to notices is all that is required to comply with the COBRA law, the TPA in this case may have benefited from using a proof of mailing component.
Travis desktop and Web-based COBRA systems can both produce a “Certificate of Mailing Report” that directly corresponds to the evidence used in the Hearst case. This report was specifically designed to be stamped by the U.S. Postal Service and provide the verification needed should a question of COBRA notice compliance arise. In addition to the Certificate of Mailing Report that proves the notice was submitted to USPS for mailing, WebCOBRA users have the ability to access the QB record through the system and pull down the COBRA Election Notice printed for a specific QB.
For Current TravisCobra and WebCOBRA users: The “Certificate of Mailing Report” is located under the Employer Reports. Click to create the report and specify the date/date range that you wish, and the report is separated by letter and lists each individual that received such letter during the date range provided. The second page of the report includes space for both a postmark and date of receipt to be stamped by the U.S. Postal Service and an area for the meter strip to keep for your records.
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