Retired teachers win judgment against
Independence School District

Six retired teachers won a $189,000 judgment against the Independence School District in a lawsuit for payment of retirement incentive benefits. Judge Scoville of the Jackson County Circuit Court heard the case late last year and issued a decision on March 8.

Under the retirement incentive program adopted in 1995, teachers with over 10 years in the district who retired when first eligible for a state pension were entitled to an incentive payment of 45 percent of their last year’s salary. Although teachers’ contracts did not mention the retirement incentive, board policy provided that it and other fringe benefits were considered a part of teacher contracts and any changes to such benefits would be effective beginning the following school year.

The plaintiffs, Douglas Allen, Connie Dawson, Linda DeCota, Carl MacDonald, Patricia Simmons and Lynda Templeton, had over 10 years of service when they reached retirement eligibility. The retirement incentive was in effect when they signed their last contracts in May of 2001, and they were counting on receiving the incentive upon retirement.

In January of 2002, eight months after the plaintiffs signed their 2001-02 contracts, the Board of Education rescinded the retirement incentive. The plaintiffs retired on June 30, 2002, and demanded payment of the incentive. The district refused, claiming that fringe benefits were not part of the plaintiffs’ contracts. The district argued that it was free to rescind fringe benefits mid-year.

With the help of their teacher association, the Missouri National Education Association, the plaintiffs filed suit in September 2002. One of the plaintiffs, Carl MacDonald, died in 2003 and his widow Shirley was substituted for him.

The Court held that the plaintiffs’ teacher contracts included the retirement incentive, and the district could not rescind the benefit mid-year. The plaintiffs’ incentive amounts range from $21,000 to $32,000. The Court also awarded the plaintiffs prejudgment interest at 9 percent per year.

“This judgment establishes an important precedent: that monetary benefits promised by Board policy and incorporated in teacher contracts are enforceable in a court of law,” says Greg Jung, MNEA president.

The 32,000-member MNEA represents teachers, education support professionals, students studying to be teachers and those retired from education in school districts and on college campuses across the state. It is the Missouri affiliate of the 2.7 million-member National Education Association.

For further information:
Carol K. Schmoock
573-634-3202

March 18, 2005