Court Opinion

ID: 9645886
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-22 21:38:58.487013+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T18:11:32.449062
License: Public Domain

Dissenting Opinion by
Me. Justice Mandeeino:
I. must respectfully dissent from the majority decision which allows an employer by merely disputing an *456employee’s pension rights to deprive that employee of his full rights. There is no evidence that the pension dispute was a bona fide dispute rather than a deliberate plan to deprive appellant of his full benefits. As the majority points out, the appellant was under extreme pressure to see that his family had an income before he began serving a prison term. Aside from these coercive elements which were present, there has been no showing that a bona fide dispute existed concerning appellant’s pension. A dispute existed—but that is not enough. Any employer could disagree with an employee at the time of his retirement and force the employee to either wait for his benefits or accept less benefits.
In this case there is no dispute that for almost four years the appellant was paid a certain salary and made contributions to the pension fund based on that salary. Benefits under a pension fund are clear and ascertained according to a person’s salary. Where was the bona fide dispute in this case under the terms and conditions of the pension fund? This has not been established. In this case the appellant’s salary was known to the penny. All that was necessary was a mathematical computation concerning his pension. He was entitled to receive exactly what the terms of the pension fund provided— not a penny less. The only thing that has been established is that appellees thought the appellant’s benefits were too high. There has been no showing, however, that his salary upon which his pension should have been based was not a proper salary duly authorized and duly paid for almost four years prior to his retirement. The pension benefits to which an employee is entitled upon retirement are in serious jeopardy under the holding of the majority. Any employer need only refuse to pay the benefits and force the employee to take a cut to avoid hardship to himself and his family. An employee should not have his pension cut because of other matters totally irrelevant to his pension contract rights. I must respectfully dissent.