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Compliance February 17, 2004
IBM Cash Balance Judge: Plaintiffs Due Retroactive Benefits
February 17, 2004 (PLANSPONSOR.com) - US District
Judge Patrick Murphy of the US District Court for the
Southern District of Illinois has ruled that plaintiffs in
the much-debated Cooper versus IBM litigation are entitled to
retroactive benefit accruals.
Reported by Fred Schneyer
According to the ERISA Industry Committee (ERIC), Murphy’s latest order does not spell out the precise dollar amount of relief to which plaintiffs would be entitled. The court argued that employers should have known since 1999 that cash balance plans were age discriminatory, even though the IRS had been issuing determination letters for cash balance plans at that time (See Murphy’s Law: IBM Loses Cash Balance Ruling ).
The Administration’s recent proposal to define statutory rules for conversions to hybrid plans fails to address existing plan conversions, ERIC said (See Bush Releases Controversial Cash Balance Proposal )
Murphy’s latest decision is available at: www.eric.org/forms/uploadFiles/2F110000000A.filename.02-04_cooper_retro.pdf .