Pennsylvania Firefighters Join Pending Pension Raise Lawsuit

May 28—Scranton's fire pension board is joining the fight to get retirees their raises.

The board voted Wednesday to join police in a pending lawsuit that challenges the city's order to withhold retirees' raises.

Larry Durkin, solicitor for the two pension boards, advised the city in March that the police board intended to sue. He said the fire board opted to join the suit, which he expects to file by next month, since the legal issues are similar.

The city and pension boards are at odds over raises for retired police officers and firefighters hired before 1987, who were due to receive half of the 1.75 percent increase active firefighters and police officers received in January. Retirees hired after 1987 are not entitled to an increase.

The city contends the city code precludes the raises from being paid because the police and fire pension funds are financially unsound. The city asked the fire and pension boards to voluntarily forgo the increases, but both boards rejected the request in December. That led solicitor Jason Shrive to write the pension plans' administrators on Dec. 29 and order them to withhold the raises.

The lawsuit will focus on whether the city had the authority to halt the raises, Mr. Durkin said. The police and fire boards contend only the boards have the authority to administer the pension funds, therefore the city had no right to take the action.

Mr. Durkin said he is still working on the lawsuit. The filing has been delayed, he said, because he is focusing on preparing for unrelated hearings that challenge double pension benefits awarded to seven nonuniform employees in 2002 and 2007. Hearings on that matter are scheduled for June 1-2.

Copyright 2015 - The Times-Tribune, Scranton, Pa.