Xerox seeks lower payments in pension case
(July
2006) – An expert witness for Xerox Corp. said today in U.S. District
Court in Rochester that the court should use a more open standard in
deciding how much money a group of workers in a pension case are
owed.Judge David Larimer will decide how much money a group of Xerox
workers will receive.In January, the Second Circuit of the U.S. Court
of Appeals in New York City ruled that Xerox did not properly inform
workers who left the company and were later rehired about a change in
their pensions, costing them years of service toward retirement. The
appeals court sent the case back to Larimer.In the second day of a
hearing that began Tuesday, Lawrence J. Shur, an actuary, testified
that the plaintiffs’ interpretation of payments focused too narrowly on
one section of Xerox’s benefit plan guidelines. That section would
produce payments that would be unfairly high. Shur said a broader
reading of Xerox’s plan would lower those payments.Plaintiffs’ attorney
Robert Jaffe has said his 100 clients could be owed between $35 million
and $50 million, and the case could spread to more retirees.Jaffe
planned to cross examine Shur this afternoon. It is unclear when
Larimer might rule.