Status
The Court granted plaintiffs’ motion to expand the class definition to include widows and widowers who earned benefits in their own right from state teachers’ retirement or similar public pension funds, and whose benefits under the Plan have been reduced by more than 50% of the amount actually paid to them as a Social Security widow’s or widower’s benefit. It also allowed the class to be limited to those widowed before January 30, 2009. The class definition now includes:
all beneficiaries of the AK Steel Corporation Noncontributory Pension Plan entitled to a Surviving Spouse Benefit under the Plan, whose benefit has been reduced due to the surviving spouse’s eligibility for Social Security benefits or other public benefits earned in his or her own right, and their heirs and assigns entitled to recover benefits which should have been paid during the lifetime of the beneficiary.
To be included in this class, you must also have been widowed before January 30, 2009.
We have collected thousands of forms from potential class members and submitted them to the Social Security Office to determine the true amount of widow’s benefits originally awarded to the widows of AK Steel workers. We have also collected information from AK Steel to calculate the amount that should have been paid to the widows who earned benefits through their own work. When all of the data is assembled and damages are calculated, we will ask the Court to award a judgment to those whose benefits were calculated improperly.
This case is not yet resolved, and we are unable to project a date for payment of increased benefits and reimbursement for underpaid benefits. The issuance of any award and final payment to the class members depends on the actions of others, including AK Steel and the district and appeals courts.
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