Fighting the cuts in a class action
Four retired Lutheran pastors are suing the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, alleging that the church guaranteed lifetime annuity payments that it later decided to “drastically reduce.”
The pastors were told in September 2009 that their guaranteed retirement payments would be cut 9 percent in 2010, with more cuts in 2011 and 2012.
The plaintiffs are the Rev. Benjamin Johnson of Minnesota; the Rev. Ronald Lundeen and the Rev. Larry Cartford, both of Arizona; and the Rev. Arthur Haimerl of Ohio.
They are not alone.
During the past 21 years, more than 10,000 eligible church employees elected to take their retirement accumulations in a lifetime annuity or a pension, according to court filings.
The pastors’ lawsuit seeks class-action status and hopes to win back full payments for all retirees affected by the cut in annuity payments. The suit was filed in Minnesota state court last month and recently moved to federal court.
The ELCA Board of Pensions, in a message to the Pioneer Press newspaper, said the cuts are the result “of the historic and virtually unprecedented downturn in the investment markets in late 2008 and 2009.”
ELCA, based in Chicago, has more than 10,300 congregations and 4.5 million members.
FRom the Orlando Sentinel – January 13, 2011