The suit was filed in U.S. District Court in Denver about four years ago. I might not have written about a suit that old -- except that it's been granted class-action status, an important victory for employees. That decision by U.S. District Judge Richard Matsch in July 2006 suggests that as many as 32,000 current and former Gannettoids could now have a stake in the outcome.Here's the background: Three Gannett employees in Colorado are suing the company in a complaint originally filed in December 2003, alleging that changes to the retirement plan in 1998 discriminated against thousands of older workers. Two of the plaintiffs worked at KUSA-TV; I'm not sure about the third worker.
Judge Matsch made Denver law firm Hill & Robbins lead attorneys for the employees. His July 11, 2006, order does not give a precise figure for the number of employees in the class. But he also didn't dispute the 32,000 figure cited in the complaint. The order defines the class of affected employees this way: With some exceptions, those whose retirement benefits are calculated under changes made to the plan starting Jan. 1, 1998 -- excluding employees who first became plan participants after Dec. 31, 2002. (Don't you love legalese?)
Interestingly, Matsch (left) has had a role in high-profile cases from Timothy McVeigh's Oklahoma City bombing trial to the civil sexual assault case against basketball star Kobe Bryant.Gannett, in the 2007 Annual Report, published last week, offered a boilerplate defense. The company "believes that it has valid defenses to the issues raised in the complaint and will defend itself vigorously. Due to the uncertainties of judicial determinations, however, it is not possible at this time to predict the ultimate outcome of this matter with respect to liability or damages, if any." (When do companies not defend themselves "vigorously?")
I'm one of the employees now covered by this suit. Are you one, too? Use this link to e-mail feedback, tips, snarky letters, etc. See Tipsters Anonymous Policy in the sidebar, upper right. Or leave a note in the comments section, below.
[Image: Neat Plates]
What are the changes?
ReplyDeleteThe changes, as I recall, basically changed the plan from a traditional defined benefit plan to something closer to a cash balance plan. Under the changes, the plan's benefits grew less generous. But it became more portable -- appealing to younger, job-hopping workers, the company said: You can accumulate, and more easily take with you, your account balance, the company said at the time.
ReplyDeleteIn my case, after 20 years, I accumulated $100,000 -- all from company contributions. That's the amount I can take now, as a lump-sum payout, to roll over into an IRA or another retirement plan. Unless I was crazy enough to spend the money now -- and pay the taxes and penalties due.
Will this class-action now expand to include the new freeze on this pension plan?
ReplyDeleteGannett has been sued for age discrimination before by employees in Phoenix, Denver and Buffalo.
ReplyDelete