#b Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporution .:. 

PBOC u,--w.c,w. 1200 K Street, N.W., Washington, D.C. 200054026 

Re: Case 164474, Copperweld Steel Salaried 

Pension Plan (the "Plan") 

 ear . 

The Appeals Board has reviewed your appeal of PBGC's revised 

benefit determination letter of September 25, 2000. For the 

reasons given below, the Board changed PBGC's determination and 

found (1) that your correct Average Monthly Earnings ("AME") 

figure is $3,471.32, (2) that you are entitled to receive an 

unreduced early retirement benefit retroactive to May 1, 2001, 

with backpayments and accumulated interest, (3) that, as of 

May 1, 2001, you are entitled to an accrued monthly benefit of 

$1,437.13, payable in the form of a Straight Life Annuity 

(instead of the $1,272.33 amount quoted in. PBGC's revised 

determination), and (4) that,. as of May 1, 2001, you are 

entitled to a monthly'benefit of $1,029.78, payable in the form 

of a Joint-and-100% Survivor Annuity. 

Determination and A~~eal 

PBGC's September 25, 2000 determination letter stated that 

you are entitled to a monthly benefit of $1,272.33 payable on 

May 1, 2004. On June 5, 2003, PBGC sent you a copy of PBGC's 

September 25, 2000 letter (in apparent response to a telephone 

inquiry on your part). 

In a letter postmarked June 30, 2003, you stated that you 

were appealing PBGC's determination of your AME, because it was 

inconsistent with the earnings shown on your W-2 statements. The 

Board referred your letter to PBGC's Insurance Operations 

Department ("IOIY') for a letter of explanation. On September 23, 

2003, IOD sent you a letter informing you that 'Pension earnings 

are lower than W-2 earnings because they exclude certain types 

of earnings." IOD's letter provided you with a 30-day right of 

appeal. 

On September 29, 2003, you filed an appeal in which you 

asked why your W-2 figures could not be used and how PBGC 
3 arrived at its AME figure. In addition, you contended that 

9 were not timely informed that you could start receiving 

i; unreduced early retirement benefit on May 1, 2001 and, that, as 

? a result, you should be entitled to receive backpayments with 

$ interest retroactive to your earliest unreduced retirement date. 

v 

!I 

In a letter dated November 2, 2003, you supplemented your 

appeal filing. You noted that PBGC had recently sent you a copy 

of a Company (CSC Industries, Inc.) document entitled Salary 

History Data for Calculation of Final Average Monthly Earnings 

("Salary History"). Based on this Salary History, you contended 

(1) that your highest 60 consecutive months of pension earnings 

occurred from May of 1979 through April of 1984, (2) that your 

pension earnings during this period totaled $205,136.34, and (3) 

that your correct AME should be $3,418.94 ($205,136.24/60). 

CalcuLation of Your Averaae Monthlv Earninas 

The Board agreed with the way that you calculated your AME 

in your supplemental appeal filing. However, for the 1983 

calendar year, you submitted two W-2 statements, both of which 

list your Employer as the Copperweld Steel Company. The first 

W-2 showed that you earned 'Wages, tips, and other compensation" 

of $35,202.33 (the W-2-amount shown on your Salary History) . The 

second W-2 showed that you earned "Wages, tips, and 

compensationN of $3,142.86. The Board found. no basis for 

excluding your second 1983 W-2 earnings amount from your pension 

earnings. Therefore, the Board found that from May 1, 1979 

through April 30, 1984 your pension earnings totaled $208,279.20 

($205,136.34 + $3,142.86) and that your correct AME is $3,471.32 

($208,279.20/60) . 

Effective Date of Your Unreduced Earlv Retirement Benefit 

Section 5.2-4(D) (5) of PBGC's Operating Policy Manual 

states: my participant eligible for a plan-provided, early 

unreduced benefit will be entitled under this section to 

retroactivity to his or her earliest eligibility date on or 

after DoPT, provided that PBGC receives the participant's 

application for benefits within ninety. days of the date PBGC 

provided written notification that the plan provided such 

benefits ." 

In your September 29, 2003 appeal, you stated that you never 

received PBGC's September 25, 2000 revised determination: 'I did 

not receive such letter. Please send me all proof that I did." 
f! In addition, you asked: 'Why wasn't I sent a letter when I could 

3 

.. start receiving my unreduced benefits on May 01, 2001? I didn't 

$ receive this information until correspondence dated June 05, .. 2003 from Cheryl DeFigio, form attached." On the attached 

3 Summary of PBGC Benefits, you noted that 28 monthly payments of 

3J $1,272.33 (from your earliest utlreduced retirement date of 

May 1, 2001 through August 1, 2003) would equal $35,625.24 (28 

x $1,272.33), and you stated that 'This should be enough to 

prove that I don't know of a letter dated 09-25, 2000." 

In a Separate correspondence package, dated September 29, 

2003, you applied for estimated monthly benefits commencing 

October 1, 2003. However, you included a cover letter stating 

that your application for benefit commencement did not mean that 

you were giving up your right to appeal your benefit: "This 

filing is not to be construed as my acceptance of the PBGC 

figures, any other monies owed to me. And all other torts." 

The Board found that PBGC's September 25, 2000 determination 

letter, taken by itself, does not state that you were entitled 

to an unreduced early retirement benefit on May 1, 2001 

(instead, it states that you could start collecting a monthly 

benefit of $1,272.33 on May 1, 2004 or choose to retire early 

with a red~ced benefit). Consequently, the Board found that you 

did not receive written notification of your entitlement to an 

unreduced early retirement benefit by letter dated September 25, 

2000, either because you did not receive the letter at all (as 

you claim in your appeal) or because the letter, taken by 

itself, did not constitute adequate written notification. 

Accordingly, the Board found that you are entitled to receive an 

unreduced early retirement benefit retroactive to May 1, 2001, 

with backpayments'and accumulated interest. 

The Board's decision to change your AME to $3,471.32 

increases your accrued monthly benefit to $1,437.13 (payable in 

the form of a Straight Life Annuity), as follows: 

(1.1%) (30 years) ($3,471.32) = $1,145.54 

(1.2%) ( 7 years) ($3,471.32) = 291.59 

Total $1,437.13 

You elected to receive your benefit in the form of a Joint-and100% Survivor annuity. Your date of birth was 1 

Your beneficiary's date of birth was1 1 Using 
these dates of birth and PBGC's benefit form conversion factors, 

8 .. the Board found that you are entitled to a monthly benefit of 

N 

4 $1,029.78, payable effective May 1, 2001 in the form of a Joint- .. 

w and-100% Survivor annuity. TP 

D 

1 Decision 

The Board found (1) that your correct Average Monthly 

Earnings figure is $3,471.32, (2) that you are entitled to 

receive an unreduced early retirement benefit retroactive to 

May 1, 2001, with backpayments and accumulated interest, (3) 

that, as of May 1, 2001;you are entitled to an accrued monthly 

benefit of $1,437.13, payable in the form of a Straight Life 

Annuity (instead of the $1,272.33 amount quoted in PBGC's 

revised determination), and (4) that, as of May 1, 2001, you are 

entitled to a monthly benefit of $1,029.78, payable in the form 

of a Joint-and-100% Survivor Annuity. This is the agency's final 

decision regarding the issues raised in your appeal. If you need 

other information from PBGC, please call the Customer Contact 

Center at 1-800-400-7242. 

Sincerely, 

William E. Ellis 

Acting Chair, Appeals Board