Penslon ~enefit Guaranty Corporation PE(Oe 1200 K Street, N.W., Washington. D.C. 20005-4026 "sRe: ~ppeall Franklin Industries, Inc. 

Ehployees' Pension Plan (the "Pl'm") 

Dear 71 

The Appeals Board reviewed your appeal of PBGC's 'August 29, 

2001 determination that you are entitled to a monthly (deferred 

vested) benefit of $388.60, but that you are not entitled to the 

monthly (disability) benefit of $1,061.08 you are currently 

receiving.. For the reasons stated below, the Appeals Board found 

that you are entitled to a Disability Retirement benefit effective 

October 1, 1994. 

In your October 7, 2001 appeal, you asked that your monthly 

pension benefit be returned to the amount you were paid, $1,159.43, 

when you went on disability retirement on October 1, 1994. You 

stated that you were diagnosed with Primary Biliary Cirrhosis 

("PBC") on November 10, 1993, and that the diagnosis was confirmed 

on January 7, 1994. You characterized PBC as a disabling and fatal 

disease which only a liver transplant can remedy. You stated that 

your empioyment with the Franklin Steel Company (the "Companyn) 

terminated on March 31, 1994, when it closed, and that you were 

unable to find employment thereafter. 

BY letter dated September 5, 1994, you were notified by the 

Social Security Administration thatthey found that you became 

disabled under their rules on April 1, 1994, and that you were 

entitled to monthly disability benefits beginning September 1994. 

You .filed an application for disability benefits under the 

terminated Plan, and began to receive payments of $1,159.43 per 

month effective October 1, 1994. By letter dated November 1, 1997, 

you were notified by PBGC's authorized representative that your 

monthly payment was an estimated amount that was being reduced 

effective December 1, 1997 to $1,061.08. 

The Plan terminated on March 31, 1994, the day that the 

Company ceased 'operations. - PBGC'S regulation on guaranteed 

benefits requires that a participant satisfy a plan's conditions 

necessary. for benefit entitlement as of the date of plan 

termination (29 Code of Federal Regulations "CFR" 5 4022.4 (a) (3 ) ) . 
Section 1.15 of. the Plan provides that a "Disabled 

Participant" means a participant who because of a physical or 

mental condition is totally and permanently unable to engage "in 

any substantial gainful activity" for the Company. PBGC determined 

that youwere not entitled to a disability retirement because you 

appear to have been actively employed by the Company through the 

date of Plan termination. 

Section 1.16 of the Plan defines Disability Retirement Date as 

"the first day of the seventh month following the day of the month 

in which a Participant becomes Disabled . . . . " On October 1, 

1994, the former Plan Administrator ("PA") signed a Company form 

indicating that you were entitled to a Disability Retirement 

benefit and that your Disability Retirement Date was October 1, 

1994. The PA's selection of a Disability Retirement Date of 

October 1, 1994 means that the PA considered you to have become 

disabled at some time during March of 1994 e., on or before 

March 31, 1994, the date of Plan termination). The Appeals Board 

noted that the PA was the official contemporaneously responsible 

for making the determination in question and may have had access to 

relevant evidence which is not part of the current administrative 

record. As a result, the Board found that the PA's original 

judgement should be upheld and that you are entitled to a 

Disability Retirement benefit effective October 1, 1994. 

Having applied the law, Plan provisions, and PBGC's rules to 

the facts in this case, the Appeals Board found that you are 

entitled to a Disability Retirement benefit as of October 1, 1994. 

This is the Agencyls final action with respect to your 

entitlement to a Disability Retirement benefit. PBGC will issue 

you a new benefit determination (with a new 45-day right to appeal) 

regarding the amount of your disability benefit. 

We appreciate your patience while we completed this review and 

while PBGC redetermines your benefit amount. Meanwhile, if you 

need other information from PBGC, please call the Customer Service 

Center at 1-800-400-7242. 

Sincerely, I 

~arriet D. Verbura Y/ 

- 

Chair, Appeals Board