Compliance December 28, 2012

Court to Hear Case About Judges' Retirement Age

December 28, 2012 (PLANSPONSOR.com) - The federal court system will hear a case challenging Pennsylvania’s mandatory retirement age for judges.
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Judge Gerald R. Solomon and Judge Arthur Tilson claim the provision – which sets the retirement age at 70 – violates their equal protection and due-process rights under the U.S. Constitution, the Herald-Standard reports.

Solomon, who is 70 years old, is opting to continue working as a senior judge, but he will not receive benefits like full-time judges.

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The mandatory retirement age of judges varies throughout the United States. In November, a group of Pennsylvania judges also filed a lawsuit against the state regarding a mandatory retirement provision of state law (see “Pa. Judges Sue to Stop Mandatory Retirement”). That suit has also been transferred to federal court.

Compliance December 28, 2012

Judge Approves AMR Collective Bargaining Agreement

December 28, 2012 (PLANSPONSOR.com) - A judge approved a collective bargaining agreement between an airline and a pilots association.
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U.S. Bankruptcy Court Judge Sean Lane approved the agreement between AMR Corp.—the parent company of American Airlines—and the Allied Pilots Association (APA), the collective bargaining agent for all 10,000 American Airlines pilots. APA’s membership ratified the agreement December 7.

At stake were lump-sum benefit payments the agreement will eliminate.

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APA Communications Director Gregg Overman said on the APA information hotline that the approval enables the agreed-to freeze of the A Plan to proceed, “averting plan termination.” A group of senior pilots, however, does not think the agreement should have scrapped the benefit.

“[E]limination of the lump sum and installment forms of benefits for the 172 Supplement B Pilots is not necessary to avoid a termination of the Plan,” the group said in an objection filed with the bankruptcy court.

Judge Lane denied the senior pilots’ motion, which is available here.

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