Judge rules against Delphi retirees in federal case

RELATED: Delphi retirees still fighting for pensions

“The record establishes that the salaried plan was severely underfunded for guaranteed benefits at the time of termination — approximately 50 percent funded,” Tarnow wrote. “There was no entity willing to sponsor the salaried plan upon Delphi’s liquidation.”

“THIS CASE IS CLOSED,” the most recent entry in the court docket says.

The plaintiffs’ motion for summary judgment was denied while the PBGC’s motion for summary judgment was granted.

In the summer of 2009, the PBGC assumed the salaried employees’ pension obligation in the wake of Delphi’s stint in Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection.

Following its own complex formula, when the PBGC assumes a pension, it often pays less than retirees had expected to be paid from a private pension provider. That was the case with the Delphi salaried retirees.

Salaried retirees long noted that General Motors — which once owned Delphi — found a way to “top off” or supplement pensions for retirees represented by unions, even though GM wasn’t legally required to do that after its own trip through bankruptcy in 2009.

Salaried retirees did not begrudge union retirees their full pensions; they argued that they were due the same treatment, however.

Tarnow wrote: “Based on the record, this court cannot conclude that PBGC acted arbitrarily and capriciously in terminating the salaried plan.”

Most of the affected retirees live in four states — Ohio, Michigan, New York and Indiana.

Local participants in the case have estimated that about 6,000 of those retirees live in Ohio. And they estimated that the biggest contingent of Ohio retirees live in and around Dayton, maybe 2,000 or so.

“I am very disappointed with the court’s ruling and I hope the Delphi Salaried Retirees Association will appeal this decision,” U.S. Rep. Mike Turner, R-Dayton, said in a statement. “The Delphi salaried retirees deserve the benefits they were promised, which, I believe, were wrongly taken.”

“These hardworking Ohioans played by the rules and yet lost a significant portion of their pension benefits, while other retirees from the same company received far better treatment,” Sen. Rob Portman said in a statement. “They deserve better.”

“I’m disappointed in this judge’s ruling,” Sen. Sherrod Brown said in a statement from his office. “Workers shouldn’t lose their retirement when a business goes under. I urge the PBGC to do the right thing for the thousands of Ohio retirees who dedicated their careers to working for Delphi and General Motors.”