Persistence Wins Pension Break
One Fine Day for Retired AP

By REUVEN BLAU

Who said you can't fight City Hall?

FINALLY SHAKES 24-HOUR BUG: Retired Assistant Principal Richard Grant has won a 6-1/2-year fight to get an extra year's pension credit that was denied to him because he listed his retirement a day too soon, even though the 'missed' day was a Sunday.

The Teachers' Retirement System has finally agreed to give an Assistant Principal a pension incentive worth more than $11,000, after denying the bonus for years because it found he retired one day too early, even though the "missed" day was a Sunday.

Ruled a Day Short

Richard D. Grant retired after 37 years as a Teacher and Assistant Principal on June 30, 2001. As a Tier 1 member, he was entitled to receive an additional year of service credit, which would have boosted his pension by 1.7 percent of his final average salary.

TRS officials, however, had refused to grant him the bonus, known as the Chapter 126 credit, claiming that he would have needed to work one more day in order to be eligible for the incentive.

After spending the past several years trying to persuade city pension officials to grant him the incentive, Mr. Grant finally filed a pro se lawsuit, arguing that the lack of response to his multiple appeals violated Federal anti-discrimination law.

A 'Technical' Error

In November, Manhattan Federal District Court Judge Gerard Lynch ruled that he "arguably earned the enhanced pension benefits" that were used as an incentive to encourage staff to work an extra year and was denied him due to a "technical" mistake in filling out his retirement form.

Following this newspaper's article and editorial highlighting that decision, Council of School Supervisors and Administrators President Ernest A. Logan took up his cause as well.

Mr. Logan wrote a letter to TRS officials and City Comptroller William C. Thompson Jr., successfully urging them "in the spirit of equity" to adopt a resolution to move Mr. Grant's retirement date from June 30, 2001 to July 1, 2001.

The letter noted that TRS already took similar action for some members who had made a similar mistake.

Pleasantly Surprised

"I was totally surprised," Mr. Grant said during a Jan. 29 phone interview. "And [by] the fact that the Federal court pointed back to TRS and put them in a position to do the right thing."

The Federal decision noted that Mr. Grant clearly decided to work another year in order to be eligible for the pension credit. "Grant has lost a substantial amount of retirement income as a result of a minor mistake in electing to retire one day too early, combined with the determination of TRS to apply the governing rules literally," Judge Lynch said.

In 2005, it appeared as if the matter was finally headed towards a resolution. A TRS representative indicated that the pension system was trying to persuade city Law Department officials to include the retired Assistant Principal, despite concerns regarding on which day he retired.

Mr. Grant has repeatedly pointed out that June 30 and July 1 that year were both weekend days and that the earlier date was listed in TRS literature explaining which employees were eligible for the bonus.

Long Battle

The benefit for Tier 1 and 2 members was created in October 2000 at a time when permanent improvements were made for other tiers. Upgrades in Tiers 3 and 4 allowed workers to stop contributing 3 percent of their salaries towards their pension after 10 years of service.

Initially, Mr. Grant filed protests with the Education Department Payroll Division, the CSA legal department, the State Education Department, and the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, to no avail.

Judge Lynch encouraged the city to finally help Mr. Grant, who taught at P.S. 122. "Although the TRS decision appears to have been a technically correct application of the terms of the governing statute, substantial justice would seem to entitle Grant to the additional benefits he seeks," his ruling stated.

'I Fainted'

Mr. Grant joked that he couldn't believe that the TRS board had finally agreed to change his retirement date. "I fainted and I got myself up and I fainted again - that's how I exercise," he said. "This could have all been easily avoided if they would have assisted me to change the date, but they chose to take a punitive procedure."

He noted that he actually had a TRS aide help him file for retirement, because he was out on medical leave during his last month on the job.

The Federal suit, he added, cost approximately $700 to file and pay for a process-server. "Why did I have to go through the whole procedure when there was prior precedent?" he asked incredulously. "Not only did I have to fight City Hall, but I made a Federal case of it."