As DuPont considers future cuts to retirees’ health benefits, the company will likely face little opposition in the courts, Professor Norman Stein told the Delaware News Journal in an article published on Oct. 30.

DuPont’s plan to cut $1.6 billion in costs by the end of 2016 has alarmed retirees who rely on supplemental health insurance they receive from the Wilmington-based company.

Federal and state regulations do not protect retirees from reductions in health care benefits.

“Courts have ruled retirees have very few rights,” Stein said. “It might be immoral, but it is legal to reduce retiree health care.”

The retirees' most effective strategy for keeping their benefits, Stein said, may be to mount a public relations campaign that would put political pressure on company managers.

Stein is a nationally recognized authority on pension law, employee benefits and tax law.