4- Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation P-ffi-C 1200 K Street, N.W., Washington, D.C. 20005-4026 

Re: Appeal 1 Peter J. Schmitt Employees 

Retirement Plan (the "Plan") 

The Appeals Board reviewed your appeal of PBGC's July 30, 2001 

determination (remailed November 13, 2001) that you were not 

entitled to a benefit under the Plan because you had less than five 

years of service under the Plan. As explained below, the Appeals 

Board changed PBGC's determination and found that you are vested in 

a Plan benefit. 

Your November 27, 2001 appeal stated that you started working 

for Golden Dawn Foods ("Golden") in 1978, that employees of Golden 

were admitted to participation in the Plan effective April.1, 1986, 

and that you continued to work for Peter J. Schmitt ("PJS") until 

it closed in 1992. You questioned the assertion in PBGC's 

determination letter that your date of hire was June 17, 1990. 

After you filed your appeal, you agreed to let PBGC review 

your Social Security earnings record. 

Discussion 

The Appeals Board first reviewed documents that PBGC received 

from PJS when PBGC became trustee of the Plan. 

One of the PJS documents (see Enclosure 11, is document that 

was produced on January 1, 1990 listing (based on data as of 

December 24, 1989). This document calls itself "Alphabet Employee 

List - Corporaten and shows your date of hire as August 21, 1978 

and no date of termination of employment. 

A second PJS document(see ~hclos&a 2) is a list'ing of annual 

accrued benefits on which PJS listed your date of hire as June 17, 

1990, and your date of entry into participation as January 1, 1991. 

The listing also indicates that your employment ended on May 29, 

1992. 

A third document that PBGC received from PJS (see Enclosure 3) 

is a 1994 listing of non-vested participants, which says that your 
date of hire was June 17, 1990. The 

your employment ended on May 29, 1992, 

in a $53.39 monthly accrued benefit. 

listing alsoindicates that 

and that you were not vested 

The Appeals Board also reviewed your earnings report 

(Enclosure 4) from the Social Security Administration ("SSAn) for 

the years 1978 through 1992. 

Based on Enclosures 1 and 2, it appears that you !!L&?G have 

quit working for PJS at the end of 1989 or in early 1990, and then 

were rehired sometime in 1990. Your SSA earnings report lends 

support to termination and rehire in 1990 because your SSA-reported 

earnings for 1990 were lower than your earnings in both 1989 and 

1991. The Board found, however, that even if vou did have a break 

in your employment with PJS during that period, the break was so 

short that your employment with PJS and related employers before 

the break (but not before April 1, 1986) would count as vesting 

service under the Plan and be added to your post-break service to 

determine your total vesting service under the Plan. 

After reviewing Plan provisions, the Appeals Board found that 

regardless of whether you had a break in your continuous employment 

with PJS in late 1989 or early 1990, you more than satisfied the 

Plan's five-years-of-vesting-service requirement, and are entitled 

to a vested benefit under the Plan. 

Decision 

Having applied the law and Plan pr&isions to the facts in 

this case, the Appeals Board found that you are entitled to receive 

a vested pension benefit under the Plan. 

PBGC's Insurance Operations Department will send you a new 

benefit determination to reflect the change in your vested status 

and inform you of the amount of your pension benefit. Your new 

determination will contain a 45-day right to appeal. 

Meanwhile, if you have any additional questions, please 

contact PBGC's Customer Service Center at 1-800-400-7242.. 

Michel Louis 

Appeals Board Member 

Enclosures (4)