Category: Retirement and Pension

James Gallagher was employed as a police officer by the Town of Fairfield, Connecticut until October 9, 1986. On that date, the Fairfield Police and Fire Retirement Board approved his request for disability retirement benefits. Gallagher’s disability retirement at age 35 was the result of a serious injury he sustained during the course of his employment. On the date of his retirement, Gallagher was a member of the Fairfield…

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Gary and Karen Gausman were married in October 1991. After 22 years of marriage, Gary, an Erie, Pennsylvania police officer, filed for divorce from Karen. Gary and Karen subsequently entered into a Marital Settlement Agreement (MSA), in which they agreed to equally share the marital portion of Gary’s pension by deferred distribution via a Qualified Domestic Relations Order, or QDRO. The MSA further provided that “Karen shall be entitled…

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Michigan is one of several states with “emergency financial manager” laws. Under the Michigan statute, an emergency manager has broad powers, essentially replaces a mayor and city council, and even has the authority to invalidate collective bargaining agreements (CBAs). AFSCME Local 3317 represent sergeants, lieutenants, and captains in the Wayne County Sheriff’s Department. AFSCME was party to a collective bargaining agreement with Wayne County that was set to expire…

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Michigan is one of a few states with an “Emergency Financial Manager” law. Under the law, known as the Local Financial Stability and Choice Act, when the finances of a Michigan municipality or public school system are in jeopardy, the governor has the ability to appoint an emergency manager. A Michigan emergency manager has sweeping authority, and assumes many of the powers historically thought reserved for city councils, mayors,…

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The Dallas Police and Fire Pension System provides comprehensive retirement, death, and disability benefits for approximately 9,300 Dallas police officers, firefighters, pensioners, and beneficiaries. Individuals automatically become members of the Pension System upon commencing training at a Dallas police or firefighter academy. Upon retirement, a member of the Pension System becomes a “pensioner,” which is defined in the Pension Plan as “a former member of the pension system who…

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The pensions for retired Houston, Texas firefighters are administered by the Houston Firefighters’ Relief and Retirement Fund. The Fund was created by a Texas statute, and is administered by a board of trustees. The role of the Board is to receive, manage, and disburse the Fund, hear and determine applications for benefits. The Act also prescribes standards regarding eligibility for retirement, disability, and death benefits and the amount of…

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In accordance with its charter, Baltimore County engages in collective bargaining with the exclusive representatives of various categories of its employees. Among those categories of employees are police officers below a certain rank, who are represented by Lodge 4 of the Fraternal Order of Police (FOP). The negotiations result in an agreement that is called a “memorandum of understanding.” Under the County Charter, disputes with the representatives of certain…

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In an immediately controversial decision, the California Court of Appeals has upheld measures taken by the Marin County retirement board to reduce the pension benefits of existing employees. Because the Court’s decision appears to fundamentally alter constitutional protections given pensions, it seems likely that the impacted employees will petition the California Supreme Court to weigh in. For years, the County’s pension board has included standby pay, administrative response pay,…

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For many years, public sector retirees in New Jersey received cost of living adjustments to their pensions. The COLAs were thought to be protected by a New Jersey statute making pension benefits non-forfeitable. As part of Governor Chris Christie’s pension reform efforts, the New Jersey Legislature in 2011 suspended future COLAs, freezing the cost-of-living adjustment at the 2011 level for current and future qualifying retirees. A group of retirees…

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Bruce Edwards, Joseph Sarkis, and Joseph Kovel were all Pennsylvania state troopers and members of the Pennsylvania State Troopers Association. In 2008, an arbitration decision produced a new union leave clause in the Association’s contract with the State. The clause reads: “Upon written request by PSTA, Union officers shall be released from duty. Union officers released from duty pursuant to State law shall be paid by the Commonwealth at…

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The State of Illinois has five public employee retirement systems, all of which provide traditional defined benefit plans under which members earn specific benefits based on their years of service, income and age. All of the pension plans are subject to the pension protection clause of the Illinois state constitution, which provides: “Membership in any pension or retirement system of the State, any unit of local government or school…

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Since 1996, retired employees of the City and County of San Francisco have been eligible to receive a supplemental cost of living allowance (COLA) as part of their pension benefits when the retirement fund’s earnings from the previous year exceeded projected earnings. On November 8, 2011, City voters passed Proposition C, an initiative measure that, among other things, amended the Charter of the City and County of San Francisco…

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