Caddies settle health insurance lawsuit with PGA Tour
Caddies and the PGA Tour have come to an agreement on health insurance coverage stemming from a lawsuit the caddies filed in 2015, according to T.J. Auclair of The Caddie Network.
The Tour announced that the two parties have established a program for all PGA Tour caddies and their families to help pay for rising healthcare costs.
“I’m delighted we’ve got to this point and I speak on behalf of all caddies when I say we truly look forward to a healthy working relationship with the Tour moving forward,” said Scott Sajtinac, president of the Association of Professional Tour Caddies.
The APTC had been searching for ways to help subsidize healthcare costs for its caddies, including finding sponsors for caddie bibs, hats, and shirt sleeves. According to the APTC, some caddies were paying over $25,000 for health insurance.
The caddies lost their class-action suit in February 2016 and an appeal in August 2018. However, the catalyst in this agreement was Jay Monahan, who took over as PGA Tour commissioner in January 2017.
“With Commissioner Monahan now at the helm, within weeks of his tenure starting, healthy dialogue began,” Sajtinac said. “The caddies and the Tour were finally talking. And Jay was fantastic through this whole process. He truly wanted to understand what it was we were dealing with."
The healthcare coverage plan will be implemented as early as January 2019.