Current Pension Topics:
TRS Violates Spirit of Law

By JOEL L. FRANK

Some members of the Teachers' Retirement System of the City of New York write "June 30" on their retirement application as their effective date (first day) of retirement, rather than the correct date of "July 1." July 1 is the correct date because you remain on the Department of Education payroll for June 30 and you cannot be paid as a pensioner if you are still actively employed. It is no big deal, however, because the first day of being paid as a pensioner will be July 1. The State Teachers' Retirement System recognizes this not-so-uncommon clerical error and simply changes the date on the retirement application to read "July 1."

Mr. Frank is a fee-only Retirement Financial Planner and a retired NYC High School Teacher of Accounting. He can be reached by telephone at (732) 536-9472, or via e-mail at rollover@optonline.net .

But the City TRS is making it a big deal in the case of Dr. Richard Grant, who retired with an effective date of June 30, 2001. The law stipulated that members of Tiers 1-2 of the TRS had to work through June 30, 2001 in order to be entitled to a one-year pension credit enhancement, or bonus. The TRS has informed Dr. Grant that he is being denied the one year of additional pension credit because he wrote down "June 30, 2001" on his retirement application as his first day of retirement. So inasmuch as he was retired, he could not have been employed by the Department of Education on June 30, 2001. He is, therefore, not entitled to the one year of additional pension credit because he did not work through June 30, 2001, as the law required.

Just because he wrote "June 30, 2001" on his retirement application as his first day of retirement does not prove that he did not work through June 30, 2001 for the Department of Education. The Department's payroll records show Dr. Grant being paid for June 30, 2001. In fact, the TRS first placed Dr. Grant on the pension payroll on July 1, 2001, not June 30, 2001, even though he wrote "June 30, 2001" on his retirement application. If he was not on the pension payroll for June 30, 2001, he must be considered an active employee for June 30, 2001 and, therefore, qualified to receive the one-year of additional pension credit.

Dr. Grant has been trying to get what is clearly his for more than six years. He recently filed a pro se lawsuit (acting as his own lawyer) in Federal District Court. His case was dismissed for lack of Federal jurisdiction. Pension plans of state and local governments are specifically exempt from the provisions of the Federal law known as the Employees' Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA). Dr. Grant should now plead his case at a public TRS Board of Trustees meeting. If he does not succeed with his pleading, I would urge him to commence an action in New York State Supreme Court.

Of Crucial Note: The clear intent of the enhancement law, enacted in July 2000, was to require the employee to be in active service on the last official day of the school year in the event that June 30, 2001 fell on a weekend. Please note that June 30, 2001 was a Saturday, so the last official day of the school year was Friday, June 29, 2001. Dr. Grant was clearly on duty with the Department of Education on Friday June 29, 2001.