The lawsuit, filed Monday in the U.S. District Court for the District of Minnesota, takes aim at the early commencement factors U.S. Bancorp uses to calculate certain pensions when a worker retires before reaching age 65. Retirees say these factors are based on outdated lifespan data, and they cause retirees to receive pensions up to 40% lower than those calculated using actuarial assumptions from the Treasury Department.
By using these factors, the bank violates the Employee Retirement Income Security Act’s requirement that early retirement pensions be the “actuarial equivalent” of traditional pensions that begin at age 65, the lawsuit claims.
In 2019, a lawsuit raising similar challenges to U.S. Bancorp’s pension calculations was allowed to advance past the bank’s motion to dismiss. That case settled after the retirees lost their bid for class certification.
Causes of Action: Declaratory relief, equitable relief, and fiduciary breach under ERISA.
Relief: Declaration of improper pension calculation, order recalculating benefits, payment of benefits, disgorgement, equitable relief, attorneys’ fees, and interest.
Potential Class Size: Thousands of participants receiving early retirement benefits from the U.S. Bancorp pension plan.
Response: U.S. Bancorp declined to comment on the allegations.
Attorneys: Izard, Kindall & Raabe LLP, Bailey & Glasser LLP, and Gustafson Gluek PLLC represent the proposed class.
The case is Adams v. U.S. Bancorp, D. Minn., No. 0:22-cv-00509, complaint 2/28/22.
Source: news.bloomberglaw.com
