The 5th Circuit Court of Appeals has upheld a lower court that ruled for Verizon Communications Inc. in a case that called into the question the legality of pension annuity buyouts.
The case, Lee v. Verizon, stems from a 2012 pension buyout, which moved $7.5 billion in pension liabilities, or about a quarter of all the communication giant’s obligations, to Prudential Insurance Co.
The annuity purchase affected 41,000 participants in Verizon’s defined benefit plan who had been receiving retirement benefits before January 2010.
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Nick Thornton
Nick Thornton is a financial writer covering retirement and health care issues for BenefitsPRO and ALM Media. He greatly enjoys learning from the vast minds in the legal, academic, advisory and money management communities when covering the retirement space. He's also written on international marketing trends, financial institution risk management, defense and energy issues, the restaurant industry in New York City, surfing, cigars, rum, travel, and fishing. When not writing, he's pushing into some land or water.
