University of Michigan Law School
Civil Rights Litigation Clearinghouse
HOME
ABOUT
FOR TEACHERS
SEARCH
QUESTIONS
RECENT ADDITIONS
feedback/
suggestions
log in/
register
Case Profile
new search
page permalink
Case Name
Cooper v. IBM Personal Pension Plan
EE-IL-0285
Docket / Court
3:99-cv-00829 ( S.D. Ill. )
State/Territory
Illinois
Case Type(s)
Equal Employment
Special Collection
Private Employment Class Actions
Case Summary
On October 16, 2005 the plaintiffs filed a lawsuit based on the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974, as amended, 29 U.S.C. §1001 against IBM Personal Pension Plan in United States District Court for the Southern District of Illinois. The plaintiffs alleged that amendments made to ...
read more >
On October 16, 2005 the plaintiffs filed a lawsuit based on the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974, as amended, 29 U.S.C. §1001 against IBM Personal Pension Plan in United States District Court for the Southern District of Illinois. The plaintiffs alleged that amendments made to their pension plans when it was transformed from a traditional cash balance plan to a defined benefit plan based on a point system constituted age discrimination. Specifically they alleged that the changes were discriminatory because rather than defining benefits by salary at retirement the plan now defined benefits based on time served and salary and awarded interest to employees who left IBM before retirement. Hence the benefits for an employee who spent 20 years at IBM between the ages of 25 and 45 would be greater than those for an employee who spent 20 years at IBM at the same salary between the ages of 45 and 65. The plaintiffs, represented by private counsel, sought damages and attorneys' fees and costs.
On September 17, 2001 the district court (Judge Murphy) certified the suit as a class action and separated three classes depending on how long the relevant members had been with IBM. On July 31, 2003 the court granted the plaintiffs summary judgment and found that the pension plan did discriminate based on age. Before appeal the case moved to the determination of damages and two settlement agreements were reached with the subclasses and were approved by the court on January 10, 2005 and August 16, 2005. The settlement agreement set total damages to be paid to the plaintiff's and their attorneys at $1,714,293,000 should the district court's ruling regarding liability be upheld on appeal.
The Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals (Judge Easterbrook, Judge Bauer, and Judge Manion) heard arguments on February 16, 2006 and reversed the district court on August 7, 2006. The court held that the alleged age discrimination stemmed only from the effect of time on money through compound interest and that this did not constitute age discrimination. The case was concluded on January 16, 2007 when the Supreme Court denied plaintiffs' petition for a writ of certiorari.
Michael Perry - 08/21/2010
compress summary
- click to show/hide ALL -
Issues and Causes of Action
click to show/hide detail
Issues
Discrimination-area
Accommodation / Leave
Other Conditions of Employment (including assignment, transfer, hours, working conditions, etc)
Pay / Benefits
Discrimination-basis
Age discrimination
General
Disparate Treatment
Pattern or Practice
Plaintiff Type
Private Plaintiff
Case Details
click to show/hide detail
Defendant(s)
IBM Personal Pension Plan
Plaintiff Description
All individuals who participated in the IBM Personal Pension Plan at any time after December 31, 1994.
Class action status sought
Yes
Class action status granted
Yes
Filed Pro Se
No
Prevailing Party
Defendant
Public Int. Lawyer
No
Nature of Relief
None
Source of Relief
None
Filed
11/01/1999
Case Closing Year
2007
Case Ongoing
No
Additional Resources
click to show/hide detail
See this case
at CourtListener.com
(May provide additional documents and, for active cases, real-time alerts)
Documents
click to show/hide detail
Court
Docket(s)
U.S. Court of Appeals
01/22/2007
05-3588
EE-IL-0285-9001.pdf
|
Detail
Source: PACER [Public Access to Court Electronic Records]
S.D. Ill.
02/11/2008
3:99-cv-00829
EE-IL-0285-9000.pdf
|
Detail
Source: PACER [Public Access to Court Electronic Records]
General Documents
S.D. Ill.
10/16/2000
Second Amended Complaint [ECF# 41]
EE-IL-0285-0001.pdf
|
Detail
Source: PACER [Public Access to Court Electronic Records]
S.D. Ill.
07/31/2003
Order (Granting plaintiff's motion for summary judgment and denying defendant's motion to dismiss) [ECF# 193]
(274 F.Supp.2d 1010)
EE-IL-0285-0004.pdf
|
WESTLAW
|
LEXIS
|
Detail
Source: LexisNexis
S.D. Ill.
01/10/2005
Final Order as to Subclass 3 [ECF# 285]
EE-IL-0285-0007.pdf
|
External Link
|
Detail
S.D. Ill.
08/16/2005
Memorandum and Order (Awarding fees and costs) [ECF# 358]
(2005 WL 1981501 / 2005 U.S.Dist.LEXIS 17071)
EE-IL-0285-0003.pdf
|
WESTLAW
|
LEXIS
|
Detail
Source: PACER [Public Access to Court Electronic Records]
S.D. Ill.
08/16/2005
Memorandum and Order (Approving settlement agreement as to subclasses 1 and 2). [ECF# 359]
EE-IL-0285-0005.pdf
|
Detail
Source: PACER [Public Access to Court Electronic Records]
S.D. Ill.
08/16/2005
Judgment in a Civil Case [ECF# 360]
EE-IL-0285-0006.pdf
|
Detail
Source: PACER [Public Access to Court Electronic Records]
U.S. Court of Appeals
08/07/2006
Opinion (Reversing the District Court)
(457 F.3d 636)
EE-IL-0285-0008.pdf
|
WESTLAW
|
LEXIS
|
Detail
Source: U.S. Court of Appeals website
People
click to show/hide detail
show all people docs
Judges
Bauer, William Joseph
(N.D. Ill., Seventh Circuit)
show/hide docs
EE-IL-0285-0008
Cohn, Gerald B.
(S.D. Ill.) [Magistrate]
show/hide docs
EE-IL-0285-9000
Easterbrook, Frank Hoover
(Seventh Circuit)
show/hide docs
EE-IL-0285-0008
Manion, Daniel Anthony
(Seventh Circuit)
show/hide docs
EE-IL-0285-0008
Murphy, G. Patrick
(S.D. Ill.)
show/hide docs
EE-IL-0285-0003 | EE-IL-0285-0004 | EE-IL-0285-0005 | EE-IL-0285-0006 | EE-IL-0285-0007 | EE-IL-0285-9000 | EE-IL-0285-9001
Plaintiff's Lawyers
Carr, William K.
(Colorado)
show/hide docs
EE-IL-0285-0001 | EE-IL-0285-9000
Evans, John
(Colorado)
show/hide docs
EE-IL-0285-9000
Freeman, Lee A. Jr.
(Illinois)
show/hide docs
EE-IL-0285-9001
Hill, Robert F.
(Colorado)
show/hide docs
EE-IL-0285-0001 | EE-IL-0285-9000
Katz, Steven A.
(Illinois)
show/hide docs
EE-IL-0285-0001 | EE-IL-0285-9000
Sprong, Douglas
(Missouri)
show/hide docs
EE-IL-0285-9000
Young, Jeffrey Neil
(Maine)
show/hide docs
EE-IL-0285-9000
Defendant's Lawyers
Hess, Frederick J
(Illinois)
show/hide docs
EE-IL-0285-9000
Horne, Michael
(District of Columbia)
show/hide docs
EE-IL-0285-9000
Huvelle, Jeffrey G.
(District of Columbia)
show/hide docs
EE-IL-0285-9000 | EE-IL-0285-9001
Remes, David H.
(District of Columbia)
show/hide docs
EE-IL-0285-9000
Rosenberg, Donald
(New York)
show/hide docs
EE-IL-0285-9000
Sonnenschein, Eric
(District of Columbia)
show/hide docs
EE-IL-0285-9000 | EE-IL-0285-9001
Vetter, Douglas
(New York)
show/hide docs
EE-IL-0285-9000
Wick, Robert
(District of Columbia)
show/hide docs
EE-IL-0285-9000
Other Lawyers
Bruce, Stephen
(District of Columbia)
show/hide docs
EE-IL-0285-9001
Carr, Rex
(Illinois)
show/hide docs
EE-IL-0285-9000
Hamilton, Charles III
(Louisiana)
show/hide docs
EE-IL-0285-9000
Mason, Kent A.
(District of Columbia)
show/hide docs
EE-IL-0285-9001
McTeague, Patrick
(Maine)
show/hide docs
EE-IL-0285-9000
Signorille, Mary E.
(District of Columbia)
show/hide docs
EE-IL-0285-9001
- click to show/hide ALL -
new search
page permalink
- top of page -
Contact
Report an Error
Privacy Policy