Judge Issues Third Injunction Against City of St. Louis Plan to Revise Fire Fighters’ Pensions

As issued by Firemen’s Retirement System of St. Louis:

Extends Preliminary Injunction Indefinitely Postponing Implementation of Ordinances

St. Louis, MO – January 4, 2013 – Less than a day after a lawsuit was filed to stop the City of St. Louis from proceeding with its most recent pension ordinance, a judge has issued an injunction against the City. The injunction prevents the City from implementing its plan to replace the Firemen’s Retirement System of St. Louis with another amended, City-controlled retirement system, which was scheduled to go into effect Feb. 1, 2013. This is the third injunction entered against the City in the last year regarding its plan to replace or change FRS.

The injunction was issued without a hearing and was consented to by the City’s attorneys.

“We are pleased that this injunction was entered so quickly and that FRS will continue to operate in the interests of the City’s fire fighters as it has for the past 50 years,” said Dan Tobben, an attorney with Danna McKitrick, P.C., representing FRS.

In his ruling Thursday, Judge Robert Dierker extended an injunction he issued in August against two other City ordinances relating to the replacement of FRS. The City has conceded that portions of those ordinances were probably illegal, and tried to fix the problems with Board Bill 109, which also is now enjoined. Continue reading »

Firemen’s Retirement System of St. Louis Sues City over Its Firemen’s Retirement Plan

As issued by Firemen’s Retirement System of St. Louis:

Asks for Temporary Restraining Order, Preliminary Injunction During Litigation, Permanent Injunction on Changes to Existing Plan

St. Louis, MO – January 2, 2013 – After almost a year of hearings in the St. Louis City Board of Aldermen and the Missouri State Legislature, and following two trials resulting in preliminary injunctions being granted in favor of the Firemen’s Retirement System of St. Louis Board of Trustees (FRS), FRS has filed a lawsuit to stop the City of St. Louis from proceeding with its most recent pension ordinance, Board Bill 109, now known as Ordinance 69353.

In its 37-page petition, the FRS Trustees detail the flaws, contradictions, illegality and unconstitutionality of Board Bill 109, which the Board of Aldermen passed on Dec. 14, 2012.

The lawsuit seeks a temporary restraining order and preliminary injunction during litigation to prevent the amendment of city ordinance and any amendment to the existing pension plan, as well as to order the parties to continue to operate under the existing FRS plan during this litigation.

In addition, the lawsuit asks for a declaratory judgment that Board Bill 109 is illegal, unconstitutional, and that it fails to correct the multiple flaws pointed out by Judge Robert Dierker when he issued an injunction against enforcement of Board Bill 12.

FRS requests the court to declare Board Bill 109:

• Void and invalid as being unconstitutional;
• Violates Missouri Statutes;
• Invalid; Board Bill 109 cannot go into effect as a matter of law because the cost study was not in compliance with state law;
• Unconstitutionally impairs the contractual rights of fire fighters with more than 20 years of service, especially because it allows the City to limit or escape liability;
• Unconstitutionally violates the contractual rights of fire fighters with less than 20 years of experience, and
• Contrary to several Supreme Court decisions, including those in prior lawsuits between these parties.

In addition, the lawsuit warns of the potential of a “multiplicity” of new lawsuits should Board Bill 109 take effect.  This is, in part, due to the conflicts and confusion created by Board Bill 109; FRS also will have a different Board of Trustees, be structured in a different manner, and possibly have a different agenda.

BACKGROUND

Preliminary Injunction Against City for Fire Fighter Ordinances Awaiting Final Ruling

The prior lawsuit regarding Board Bill 11 and Board Bill 12, which was joined by Local 73 and St. Louis fire fighters, has revealed many problems with the City’s attempt to wrest control of FRS from the State of Missouri, which currently has jurisdiction of FRS and fire fighter retirement issues.   For example:

• Ordinance 69183 removed the duty and authority of FRS Trustees to challenge City action relating to FRS and made those that do so civilly liable for costs,
• Ordinance 69245 was designed to create a new Firemen’s Retirement Plan,
• Ordinance 69149 invoked the City’s home rule charter as authority to eliminate its guarantee to pay benefits, changed the minimum age of fire fighters to receive benefits, and increased fire fighters’ contribution to their retirement from eight percent refundable to a nine percent non-refundable contribution.

Judge Dierker issued preliminary injunctions regarding Ordinances 69149 and 69245 (Board Bills 11 and 12), after which the City conceded that portions of those ordinances were illegal.

In an effort to address those portions of the ordinances, the City passed Board Bill 109, which reinstated the authority for FRS but froze the accrual of benefits except for the purpose of vesting.

FRS states that the attempt by Board Bill 109 to correct deficiencies in the prior ordinances has created new constitutional and legal violations (as noted above).

The court will set hearings regarding the restraining order and preliminary injunction sought by FRS and its Trustees.

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About FRS:  Established on July 26, 1944 in accordance with Ordinance #43009, the Firemen’s Retirement System of St. Louis was created to provide a program of security for the welfare of St. Louis City firefighters and their families. On January 1, 1960, the System was revised through enabling legislation by the Missouri Legislature and then by the Board of Aldermen of the City of St. Louis to further ensure the continued security for all active fire fighters, retirees and their families.  The Firemen’s Retirement System of St. Louis provides retirement, disability, death and survivor benefits to nearly 2,000 active and retired participants and their beneficiaries. FRS supports its membership by maintaining a pension plan that will attract and retain firefighters.  It seeks to maximize investment returns by following a prudent investment policy.

About Danna McKitrick P.C.:  Located in St. Louis, Mo., Danna McKitrick, P.C. delivers legal representation to businesses (emerging to national), insurers, government-related entities, individuals and regarding public pension issues throughout the Midwest. www.dannamckitrick.com  (314) 726-1000

Joplin Firefighters Pension Ruling: Judge Says Disabled Workers Entitled to Half-pay

A Jasper County circuit judge has issued his ruling in a lawsuit involving a disabled Joplin firefighter. Judge David Mouton has ruled that Joplin firefighters “are entitled to half-pay without a reduction from the city pension fund if they are disabled or killed in the line of duty,” according to The Joplin Globe.

Attorney Dan Tobben represented Tom Robertson, the disabled firefighter, as well as the firefighters union, Local 2618, International Association of Fire Fighters, which joined the lawsuit in December 2011.

At the hearing, held in May, neither side disputed the facts of the case involving Robertson’s disability; rather the dispute involved language within the pension itself regarding disability payments to workers who have not served a full 20 years of employment with the City of Joplin. Continue reading »

Tobben on Injunction Against City of St. Louis

Attorney Dan Tobben commented in the St. Louis/Southern Illinois Labor Tribune on the injunction issued against the City of St. Louis recently regarding proposed changes to the Firemen’s Retirement System.

“It’s a win for the firefighters,” said Firemen’s Retirement System (FRS) attorney Dan Tobben. “[Judge Robert Dierker] ruled the proposed ordinance authorized by Board Bill 12 was illegal on a number of grounds and threw it out.”

Tobben is claiming the ruling as a “total victory” for FRS and the firefighters, “pointing out that Judge Dierker ruled that the basic [tenets] of the City’s new law were all invalid and unconstitutional,” according to the Labor Tribune.

Continue reading »

Dan Tobben on Passing of Ordinance to Cut St. Louis Firefighter Pension Benefits

Dan Tobben, attorney for the Firemen’s Retirement System of St. Louis, commented on the ordinance to cut pension benefits for the City of St. Louis firefighters passed on July 13, 2012 by the Board of Alderman.

• St. Louis Business Journal (7/13/12)
• KMOX (7/13/12 – AM – 6:49 AM; updated 11:36 AM)
• KMOX (7/13)12 – 1:50 PM)

For additional information on the issues related to firefighters’ pension reform, including the pleadings, click here.

Tobben Comments on Ruling: St. Louis Firefighters Can Sue to Stop Pension Reform by the City

A St. Louis judge has ruled that the Firemen’s Retirement System of St. Louis can sue the City of St. Louis to stop reform of the pension. The Board of Aldermen for the City of St. Louis has passed ordinances to reform the pension. Firefighters believe that the city does not have the legal right to make changes to the pension system under Missouri state law. Attorney Dan Tobben comments on the ruling:

• KTVI-Fox2 News (7/6/12)
• KMOX (7/6/12)
• KPLR-11 (7/6/12)
• Missouri Lawyers Weekly (7/6/12)

For additional information on the issues related to firefighters’ pension reform, including the pleadings, click here.

Tobben Argues Duty Disability Case on Behalf of Joplin Firefighters

Attorneys on the two sides agreed that there are no facts in dispute. Instead, interpretation of the rules of the plan and its supporting documents has created the disagreement.

Disabled firefighter Tom Robertson filed a lawsuit last June after he had asked the pension board to overrule the city’s calculation on disability pay and his attorney had met with the board asking for reconsideration.

Tobben told the court that before the 1993 election, employees were allowed to retire at age 60 with 20 years of service. In 1993, an election was held in which plan members approved allowing people who went to work over age 45 to receive a prorated retirement benefit at age 60. That election did not change the ratio of duty disability or death pay, Tobben contends. He said the change was made to apply to a police chief who went to work for the city at age 45.

Read the full article… The Joplin Globe

St. Louis Firefighters Pension Plan Sues City Over “Unconstitutional” Ordinances

As issued by Fireman’s Retirement System of St. Louis:

FRS Seeks Restraining Order and Injunction

St. Louis, MO – June 12, 2012 – The Trustees of the Firemen’s Retirement System of St. Louis (FRS) have filed a six-count lawsuit today in St. Louis City Circuit Court, seeking a temporary restraining order, injunction and declaratory judgment against the City of St. Louis over the Firefighter pension issues. The lawsuit is intended to stop attempts by the City of St. Louis to change the structure of, or take control of, Firemen’s Retirement System and to discontinue the accrual of current benefits to firefighters in the City of St. Louis in violation of Missouri state statutes and the U.S. and Missouri Constitutions. It also seeks to prevent enforcement of a bill to be voted on Friday, where the rights and duties of Trustees to sue the for wrongdoing by the City would be stripped from the trustees.

The City of St. Louis, over the past year, has tried to either change or assume control of FRS. Legislation was introduced in a committee of the Missouri House that would have significantly changed the structure of the FRS in a legally proper manner, and saving the City millions of dollars per year. That effort was actively opposed by the St. Louis Mayor, whose staff testified against the legislation.

The TRO is requested by FRS to prevent the implementation of ordinances and to stop proposed ordinances (in the form of Aldermanic Board Bills) which together are referred to in the lawsuit as a “Scheme” to wrest control of FRS in a manner contrary to state law and to the Missouri and U.S. Constitutions.

Continue reading »

Tobben Comments on Mayor Slay’s New Firefighter Pension and Disability Bills

Mayor Francis Slay is submitting two bills to the City of St. Louis Board of Aldermen on Friday, February 10, 2012 that will “essentially close the current Firemen’s Retirement System of St. Louis, which is partly controlled by state law, and start a new, city-governed fire pension plan,” according to the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.

The Post reports that the new bills will affect all newly-hired firefighters going forward, but some changes will also affect current firefighters, including “reducing retirement earnings for nearly all firefighters going forward” and increasing yearly firefighter contributions.

 According to the article, the Mayor’s proposal faces opposition from the Firemen’s Retirement System of St. Louis, the firefighters’ pension board, if passed.

Executive Director Vicky Grass declined to comment on the bills’ details. But the system’s private attorney, Dan Tobben, said Wednesday that the mayor wasn’t going about reform correctly.

“The fact that they’re ‘opting out’ and setting up a different pension program seems clearly to be against state law,” he said.

Moreover, he said, courts across the country have ruled that cities can’t change benefits for existing workers, only new hires.

 Read the full story St. Louis Post-Dispatch

 Read more … historical cases between the City of St. Louis and the Firemen’s Retirement System:

Firemen’s Retirement System vs. City of St Louis - Supreme Court decision

Firemen’s Retirement System vs. City of St Louis - Court of Appeals decision

Dan Tobben: St. Louis City’s Proposed Firefighter Pension Change May Be Illegal

The St. Louis Post-Dispatch has reported that St. Louis Mayor Francis Slay appears to be putting together a new proposal that may attempt to do away with the existing pension system for new firefighters joining the St. Louis City Fire Department. At a minimum, it would apparently reduce the benefits of any new firefighter joining the department. (Current and retired firefighters would remain in the current system.)

While details have not been released, Jeff Rainford, the mayor’s Chief of Staff, has started briefing the aldermanic council on the mayor’s intents. According to aldermen, Rainford has stated that if negotiations with the International Association of Fire Fighters Local 73 are not successful,

… the city would move to essentially “opt out” of the current system and start a new agency to govern firefighter retirement ….”

Slay has stalled a proposal already presented to the board for consideration that would save over $1 million a year, according to one alderman. The proposal was created through negotiations between the union and the City, with the drafting assistance of Dan Tobben and Cheryl Beebe Snell, attorneys for the Firemen’s Retirement System.

Joe Vaccaro, alderman in the city’s southwestern 23rd Ward, is frustrated that Slay has successfully stalled his bill, which he introduced this session to change firefighter disability benefits and save the city more than $1 million a year.

Slay asked Craig Schmid, alderman in south city’s 20th Ward and chair of the Public Employees committee, not to hear the bill until Slay’s plan is ready.

“He told me it doesn’t go far enough,” Vaccaro said of Slay. “Why not let my bill stand, save taxpayer money, and they can introduce their own legislation?”

Continue reading »