BREAKING: Court Rules Employees Have Rights to Pension
Tuesday, September 13, 2011
Unions won a big victory today in what is sure to be a protracted legal battle, with Superior Court Judge Sarah Taft-Carter handing down a decision that recognizes an "implied contractual relationship" between the Employees Retirement System of Rhode Island and state employees.
The lawsuit was first brought by a coalition of public employee labor unions seeking to overturn pension changes passed back in 2009 and 2010, but with full-scale pension reform on the horizon, this ruling could have major ramifications.
The ruling, however, still leaves much to be determined. Justice Taft-Carter simply ruled that an implied contractual relationship exists, it is another matter entirely what actually qualifies as “substantially impairing” that contract.
GET THE LATEST BREAKING NEWS HERE -- SIGN UP FOR GOLOCAL FREE DAILY EBLASTThe state had initially requested that the case be thrown out on the grounds that employees had no contract right to their pension—this ruling rejects the state’s claim. In a particularly revealing passage, one that certainly give pause to those leading the pension reform effort, the ruling declares:
“Defendants envision an ERSRI under which the State may, with or without justification, significantly alter or completely terminate a public employee’s pension benefits at any time—even just one day—before retirement. In light of the major purposes underlying public pensions, as recognized by our own Supreme Court, such a construction of the ERSRI is untenable.”
