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iPBGC ... ___.AnIIdCII ......... Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation 

! 1200 K Street. N. W •• Washington. D.C. 20005-4026 

.. 

NOV 1 8 2005 

Re: Appeali I Case 195982 

pension for Hourly Employees Standard Steel - Burnham 

and Latrobe Plants A Division of Freedom Forge 

Corporation (the ·PlanU ) 

Dear '--____ ----" 

The Appeals Board has reviewed· your anneaJ PBGC' sl 

April 14,2003 determination that your client, I __ ~ . is not entitled to a disability benefit from 

:f PB·~GC~.·.-~Fo==r-=t~e~r=e=a=s=o==n~s 

stated below, we changed PBGc's determination and found that he is 

entitled toa disability benefit. 

Benefit Determination and Appeal 

In its determination letter, PBGC informed[ mmJhat he 

must have become disabled prior to Plan termination in order to be 

entitled to a guaranteed disability benefit. The Plan terminated on 

June 27, 2002. His Social Security Administration (ftSSA") 

Disability Award states ·you became disabled under our rules on 

July c=J 2002. lit Therefore, PBGe; concluded that I .. Jis not 

entitled to a guaranteed disability benefit. . ..... . 

In a November 26, 2003 letter, PBGC further explained its 

determination as follows: 

You requested why you wer~ denied a permanent incapacity 

retirement. To be eligible for this type of retirement 

from PBGC you would have to be disabled due to a physical 

injury or disease which prevents you from engaging in 

further employment with the Company or in any other 

gainful employment or occupation before June 27, 2002, 

the Date of plan Termination. 

You did not meet this requirement since you were still an 

active employee at the Latrobe plant until July 12, 2002. 
-2-

In your March 17, 2004 appeal, you ·contended that'--_____ -' 

was "injured and disabled prior to June 30. 2002." In support, you 

presented: (1) a letter from (2) 

medical records of {3} a statement by I !that he was job after May, 2002, and 

(4) statements by five co-workers that, because I I was 

unable to perform his job, they did some of his work for him. The 

appeal record also contains reports of medical treatment from 1997 

to 2004 and the SSA Disability Award. 

Plan Terms 

Section 3.040 of the Plan provides that a participant shall be 

entitled to Permanent Incapacity Retirement under the following 

conditions: 

(a) Any Participant who has completed at least lS'years of 

Continuous Service and who shall have become 

permanently incapacitated prior to his attainment of age 

65 shall be entitled to a pension upon his retirement 

determined in accordance with 3.040(c}. 

(b) A Participant shall be deemed to be permanently 

incapacitated (as the term "permanently incapacitated" is 

used in this Agreement) and shall be retired only: 

(l) If he has been totally disabled by bodily injury or 

disease so as to be prevented thereby from engaging 

in any occupation or employment; and 

(2) After such total disability shall have continued 

for a period of five consecutive months and in the 

opinion of a qualified physician, it will be 

permanent and continuous during the remainder of 

his life. 

Section 3.040, however, provides that a participant shall not be 

entitled to Permanent Incapacity Retirement if his incapacity 

results from criminal enterprise, habitual drunkenness, addiction 

to narcotics, or future service in the armed forces for which the 

participant receives a military pension. 

Discussign 

For PBGe to guarantee a disability benefit, a participant must 

have satisfied the Plan requirements - other than application for 

the benefit, retirement, or completion of a waiting period - on or 

before the plan termination date, June 27, 20'02. 
-3-

The Appeals Board has considered evidence on this issue from 

several sources: medical evaluations, the SSA Disability Award, 

employment records, and your client I s explanation of his employment 

history. 

'-----:------:-___ --,----JI 1 1 primary physician, summarized his 

medical history in a January 12, 2004 letter. He described visits 

concerning pulmonary complaints as early as 1997, but said that 

evaluations and management regarding 1 1 work status in 

1999 were made by a pulmonologist, 1 I. 

'-----____ ~---.JI wrote that' he sawLI _____ ...Jlon January 7, 2002, 

when he reported great difficulty at work because of shortness of 

breath. At the time, 1 1 noted that he had "some 

bronchospastic COPD, certainly aggravated by smoking, maybe 

aggravated by his work "He referred 1 1 to a 

pulmonologist, 1 1 and told him that work decisions 

would be left to Dr. 1 I. 

~I 1 wrote that he saw 1 1 in early June of 2002, =======--:='::;1 again reported great difficulty carrying out 

his usual work duties. 1 1 stated: "I, believe this to be 

accurate, based on my findings of expiratory rhonchi and diminished 

breath sounds. H 

,-----_______ 1 statement describes the effect of his breathing 

difficulties on his ability to do his job. 1 Istated that 

in May, 2002, he could no longer do his job in the steel plant and 

that he had so much trouble breathing that he had to sit most of 

the time. He stated that in June and part of July, his co-workers 

did a great percentage of his work. 

Five of his co-workers submitted statements stating that they 

helped with his work because his health problems did not allow him 

to do it himself. 

In your appeal, you state that 1 Iwas unable to see 

the lung doctor, I 1 until July, 2002 due to 

I schedule. When 1 1 saw I Ion 

July 23, 2002, he wrote that pulmonary function studies indicated 

restrictive disease and noted his history of obstructive airways 

disease. He also said that 1 1 had sleep apnea, which 

needed treatment. 

,---b------~I said he had a long discussion about whether it 

was 1 work that made his symptoms worse. He said that 

was certainly possible. He referred I I tol I for 

further care and management. 

I
-4-

Examination notes from '--___ -' and laboratory tests show 

that did suffer from sleep apnea, which was 

subsequently treated. 

Employment records show that present at work 

until July 12, 2002, but" his statement explained that he was unable 

to do his job starting in June: ~The only reason I was at the plant 

from June of 2002 to July of 2002 was because everybody else did my 

job." As noted, signed statements from five of his co-workers 

confirm that they helped him do his job because he was unable to do 

it himself. 

By July~ 2002, I I was disabled under the rules of 

the SSA. AdditioruHly. PBGC and the Appeals Board was provided with 

copious medical reports, some prepared before Plan termination and 

some after, that. formed the basis for the SSA finding. The Appeals 

Board found, based on these medical records and the other 

information submitted to PBGC and the Board, that: (1) '--____ ~ 

medical condition and his inability to perform his job likely was 

substantially the same on the Plan's termination date (June 27, 

2002) 

m 

as on the date that SSA found that he was disabled; and (2) 

I had become "permane1!tly incapacitated' within the 

meaning of section 3.040 of the Plan on or before the Plan's 

termination date. Accordingly, .the Board found that I I ia 

entitled to a disability pension. 

Decision 

For the reasons stated above, the Board changed PBGC I a 

determination and found that I'--_____ ~I is entitled to a 

guaranteed disability benefit. 

PBGC will issue a new determination with a new 45-day right of 

appeal that will state the terms and the amount of his disability 

pension payable by PBGC. In the meantime, if Mr. Steeves needs 

e

other information from PBGC, he may call the CUstomer Contact 

Center at 1-800-400-7242. 

Charles W. Vernon 

Chair, Appeals Board 

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