6th 

i 'BGC Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation 

Profefrmsnmericds 1200 K Street. N.W., Washington. D.C. 20005-4026 

APR 0 8 2005 

Re: The Grand Union Company Associates' 

Retirement Plan ("Plan"), PBGC Case # 194132 

The Appeals Board has reviewed your December 10, 2003 response to PBGC's 

November 14,2003 request that you show you met the Plan's participation requirements, i.e., that 

you were a MI-time, non-union employee of Grand Union. As discussed below, the Appeals Board 

found that you were eligible to participate in the Plan. The Board, however, also concluded that 

you are not entitled to a Plan benefit from PBGC. 

PBGC 's Determinations. Your Au~eal, and Related Co~respondence 

By letter dated March 13,2002, PBGC told you it had determined that you are not entitled 

to a Plan benefit from PBGC because you had a break in service in 1975 and, as a result of the break, 

you did not have the 10 years of service the Plan required for a vested right to a benefit. You 

appealed that determination by letter dated April 2,2002, stating that you had met the Plan's vesting 

requirement. 

My decision letter of June 23,2003 changed PBGC's March 13,2002 determination. The 

decision explained that during our research on your appeal, we found that your 1975 earnings had 

been incorrectly posted in the Social Security Administration's ("SSA) records. As a result of the 

SSA's correcting your recordofearnings for 1975, we concluded that you did not experience a break 

in service that year and, therefore, "you had enough service with Grand Union to meet the Plan's 

vesting requirement." Please note that my decision did not find that you were entitled to a Plan 

benefit from PBGC. Rather, the decision letter stated that, based on the Appeals Board's decision, 

PBGC's Insurance Operations Department ("IOD), the office responsible for determining and 

paying PBGC benefits, would send you a new determination regarding your benefit entitlement 

under the Plan. That is, IOD would let you know ifyou were entitled to a Plan benefit and, if so, 

the new determination would have also included the amount of the benefit PBGC would pay you. 
After receiving my decision letter, on November 14, 2003, Ms. Deborah Trentacosta, an 

IOD representative for the Plan, sent you a letter which stated: "Although PBGC agrees that you 

could possibly have become vested before you terminated [employment], according to the pension 

records of Grand Union, you had a zero balance in your pension plan at the time you terminated 

employment." That letter also stated that "unless you can show that you were classified as a Full 

Time Non-Union employee during the period you worked for Grand Union, PBGC maintains its 

original determination that you are not due a benefit." 

In your December 10, 2003 response to Ms. Trentacosta, which was forwarded to the 

Appeals Board, you maintain that you were a Plan participant and that you are entitled to a Plan 

benefit. 

Discussion 

Employees who were represented by a collective bargaining agreement (union employees) 

and employees who worked less than 1,000 hours a year were not eligible to participate in the Plan. 

While my June 23,2003 appeal decision found that you had enough service with Grand Union to 

meet the Plan's vesting requirement, according to IOD, PBGC did not have enough information to 

determine whether you were eligible to participate in the Plan. Therefore, IOD's November 14, 

2003 letter asked that you provide information to show that you were a kll-time, non-union 

employee. 

Your December 10,2003 response did not include any Company documentation (e.g., pay 

stubs, work schedules, etc.) to show that you met the Plan's participation requirements. You did, 

however, provide a listing of the positions you held at Grand Union and the names of some of your 

coworkers and other Company personnel whom you believe could verify your employment. Among 

those listed is Mr. Armondo Chevere, Personnel Manager. 

We contacted Mr. Chevere who told us that you were a full-time, non-union employee of the 

Company and that you held various management positions. He recalled that you were absent from 

the Company for a few consecutive months (but could not remember the year), aRer which you 

returned full-time and continued to work full-time until your employment ended. Mr. Chevere also 

stated that you had more than enough service with Grand Union to be vested under the Plan. 

Since the files do not have sufficient evidence for us to conclude otherwise, based on Mr. 

Chevere's statements, the Appeals Board found that you were eligible to participate in the Plan. My 

June 23,2003 decision found that you had enough service to be vested under the Plan. 

Please note, however, that as PBGC's November 14,2003 letter stated, you are included on 

an official Grand Union pension record, dated August 3,1982, that lists anumber of employees who 

had "a zero balance" in the pension plan at the time their employment with the Company ended. 

The records show your employment ended when Grand Union ceased its Puerto Rico operations, 
some 20 years before PBGC took over the Plan. Based on the Grand Union document noted above 

and our research, the Appeals Board concluded that you received from the Company any Plan 

benefit you may have been due before PBGC took over the Plan. Thus, you are not entitled to a Plan 

benefit from PBGC. 

Decision 

The AppealsBoard changed PBGC's March 13,2002 determination by finding that you were 

a vested participant in the Plan. The Board also found that you are not due a Plan benefit from 

PBGC. This is the agency's final action with regard to PBGC's determination and you may, if you 

wish, seek court review of this decision. 

We apologize for not responding sooner and appreciate your patience during the processing 

of your case. If you need additional information from PBGC, please call the Customer Contact 

Center at 1-800-400-7242 and ask to speak to an IOD representative for the Plan. 

Sincerely, 

Sherline M. Brickus 

Member, Appeals Board