h 

Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation 

UI~~RI~~~*CENCI 1200 K Street, N.W., Washington, D.C. 20005-4026 

June 2'7, 2003 

Re: Appeal 

Transue & Williams Stamping Company Retirement Plan 

for Hourly Employees (the "Plan") 

Dear 71 

The Appeals Board has reviewed your appeal of PBGC's 

September 30, 2000 determination, remailed December 30, 2002, of 

1 benefit. As explained below, we are denying your 

appeal. 

PBGC's Determination and Your ADD^^ 

PBGC found: 

Normal Retirement Benefit is $423.30 per month 

if paid as a Straight Life Annuity starting at age 65, and 

His benefit will be reduced if started before age 65. For 

example, his benefit would have been $179.48' per month if 

paid as a Straight Life Annuity starting at age 57. 

In your March 7, 2003 appeal, you noted 1 was 

entitled to an unreduced benefit starting at age 57 under three 

February 2003 Appeals Board decisions. We explain below that the 

prior Appeals Board decisions you cite were incorrectly decided. 

Data Relevant to Your Au~eal 

The following data is relevant to your appeal: 

1 (1) I 71 date of birth: I r.pl 11 

11 (2) 1 Date of hire: ) 8/24/1962 1) 

11 (3) 1 The Plan's termination date: 1 6/24/1993 11 

$423.30 x (100% - 7.2% per year x 8 years before age 65). 

See paragraph 5.3 (b) on page 20 of the ~nclosure to this letter. 

(4) 

(5) 

Vesting service earned through 6/24/1993: 

age on 6/24/1993: 

31.4 years 

52 years 

months 
Relevant Law and Resulations 

The Plan terminated without assets sufficient to provide the 

benefits PBGC guarantees. Thus, under ERISA Title IV, PBGCmay pay 

only hisguaranteed benefit. 

Under ERISA section 4022.(a), a guaranteed benefit must be 

"nonforfeitableu on a plan's termination date. A nonforfeitable 

benefit is 'a benefit for which a participant has satisfied the 

conditions for entitlement under the plan or the requirements of 

[ERISA] other than . . . completion of a required waiting period. a2 

Thus, PBGC benefit depends on which Plan employment 

conditions he had satisfied as of the Plan's June 24, 1993 

termination date. 

RIn this letter we refer to the Plan document in effect on the 

Plan's termination date - the same document you excerpted with your 

earlier three appeals. The Appeals Board decisions on those three 

appeals cite from a later Plan document adopted after the Plan's 

termination date. Please note, although numbered differently, the 

later document also gives the same requirements summarized below. 

See Enclosures 1 and 2. 

PBGC determined- benefit under section 4.5: 

W(a) A Participant shall be eligible for a Deferred 

Vested Pension if his employment is terminated before 

death or Retirement after he has completed at least 10 

years of Vesting Service." (underlining added) 

Retirement is defined only for benefits other than the 

Deferred Vested Pension, in Section 2.3(b), as follows: 

'Termination of em~lomen€ for reason other than death 

after a Participant has fulfilled all requirements for a 

Nonal, 57/30, Early or Disability Retirement Pension." 

(underlining added) 

The unreduced pension you have requested is a "57/30 

Retirement Pension." Section 4.2 provides: 

"(a) A Participant with 30 or more years of Vesting 

Service who retires on or after attainment of age 57 

shall be eligible for a 57/30 Retirement Pension. 

(underlining added) 

See ERISA § 4001 (a) (8) , and 29 Code of Federal Regulations 

§§ 4001.2 and 4022.3. 

The starc date of the 57/30 Retirement Pension is given in 

section 4.2 (b) . 
.$ 

E -. -3- 

$ Discussion 

I 

i For the 57/30 Retirement Pension, Plan section 4.2 (a) requires * 

I terminating employment (retiring) at age 57 or later. However, 

$ 

J / age was. only 52 on June 23, 1994. Thus, on the June 23, 

3 1994 Plan termination date, had not met the Plan's 

(D condition of working to or beyond age 57. Therefore, the law does 

not allow PBGC to pay a 57/30 Retirement Pension. 

The three February 2003 Appeals Board decisions you cited in 

your appeal were incorrectly decided. The Board based those 

decisions on Plan section 4:2(a), which you provided with those 

appeals. The Board decided those three appeals without considering 

the Plan's definition of Retirement in section 2 -3 (b) . Therefore, 

m 

the Board will not apply the February 2003 decisions to 

Where to Submit Anv New Evidence 

PBGC will always - evki after an appeal is closed-consider any 

new specific evidence you present showing your client may be 

entitled to a different benefit. Please send any such information 

to: 

PBGC Authorized Plan .Representative 

PO BOX 151750 

Alexandria VA 22315-1750 

You may also contact PBGC's Authorized Plan Representative with any 

question about your benefit, at 1-800-400-7242. 

Decision 

Having applied the law and Plan provisions to the facts in 

your case, we are denying your appeal. This letter concludes your 

administrative remedies with respect to PBGC's December 30, 2002 

determination. You may, if you wish, seek court review of PBGC's 

determination with respect to the issues you have raised. Thank 

you for your patience while we carefully reviewed your March 7, 

2003 appeal. 

Sincerely, 

'4'J.L -d ,442 

William D. Ellis 

Appeals Board Member 

Enclosures: 

1) Excerpts from Plan document in effect on the Plan's 

June 24, 1993 termination date (15 pages) 

2) Excerpts from Plan document dated June 1994 (18 pages) 

cc: