In Metzgar v. U.A. Plumbers & Steamfitters Local No. 22 Pension Fund, 2022 U.S. App. LEXIS 5466 (2d Cir. Mar. 2, 2022), the Second Circuit in a summary order affirmed the district court’s decision granting summary judgment in favor of plan trustees regarding the trustees’ reinterpretation of what “retire” means under the terms of the pension plan.
Plaintiffs were participants in the U.A. Plumbers & Steamfitters Local 22 Pension Fund (the “Fund”), a defined benefit multi-employer pension plan governed by an Agreement and Declaration of Trust (the “Trust”). The Fund provided benefits to participants according to a Restated Plan of Benefits (the “Plan”). The Plan set the normal retirement age at 65, but it also provided a “Special Early Retirement” option to employees after their 55th birthday whose combined age and years of service equaled 85 or more. The Trust gave the trustees full discretionary authority to interpret the Plan.
Until fall 2011, the Plan operated with the understanding that participants did not have to stop working for a covered employer to receive special early retirement pension payments; they only had to stop working in a disqualifying employment position. This allowed participants to continue working in non-disqualifying employment (such as in a managerial position or as a project manager) while receiving pension benefits through the Plan.
In fall 2011, the Plan trustees reviewed the Plan and determined they had to change their interpretation...
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