HUDS Employee Sues Over Benefits

A former Harvard University Dining Services employee is suing Harvard for denying her disability benefits.

Rosemary E. McGahey served as the director of residential dining services for five years before she was “involuntarily separated from employment,” in 2005, according to the complaint she filed with the Massachusetts district court.

McGahey’s disability arose after she fell twice on the job in 2004. According to the complaint, she “left Harvard in unbearable pain” on Sept. 6, 2004 and never returned to work.

The University paid McGahey disability benefits for two years.

McGahey’s attorney, Paul M. Stein, said that after two years of being disabled, the University’s definition of what constitutes this status changes, and that the University now contends that McGahey no longer fits this category.

“The Harvard interpretation of that change in the definition will be at the heart of this lawsuit,” Stein said. “Under our interpretation she remains qualified for benefits. Under Harvard’s she loses benefits.”

McGahey, who declined to comment for this story, is seeking payment of her benefits from June 2006, when Harvard ceased payment, until she recovers from her disability.

Before she stopped working, McGahey earned a salary of over $100,000.

Under the terms of the University’s employment plan, McGahey began receiving long-term benefits after six months of disability since she was unable to perform her normal job duties. These benefits continued for 18 months.

In March 2006, the University wrote to McGahey to inform her that she was no longer eligible to receive benefits under the disability plan after June. Though her current condition prevented her from resuming her former post, the letter explained, there were other jobs available that she could hold in her condition.

The complaint contends that McGahey’s condition prohibits her from taking any of the jobs listed. McGahey appealed the decision but was denied in May 2007.

McGahey is currently receiving Social Security Disability Income and workers’ compensation, which is administered through the Massachusetts Department of Industrial Accidents. Harvard is self-insured and thus required to cover all its employees. The department ordered that Harvard pay McGahey temporary benefits, but the University appealed the decision. The department has yet to render a decision in the case.

McGahey underwent hip surgery in Nov. 2004, but according to the complaint, it did not resolve her pain issues. The complaint also said that McGahey’s husband left her as a consequence of the disability, leaving her as the sole financial supporter of her two children.

—Staff writer Jamison A. Hill can be reached at jahill@fas.harvard.edu.