Plymel vs. TRS Law Suit
July 20, 2009
Everyone who qualifies for money from this lawsuit should receive it by the middle
of August!
Thanks for your patience with TRS and Garden City. The money is coming!
IMPORTANT! IMPORTANT!
Thursday morning
April 9th, 2009!
The TRS Board of
Trustees voted to accept the Court of Appeals ruling dated February 19, 2009, and not pursue additional appeals in the Plymel
v. TRS case. At this time, there are several legal procedures that must occur before payments can be issued. Therefore, we
cannot provide a definite date as to when the payments will be made. All affected retirees will receive information directly
from the Garden City Group regarding any settlement amount they may be entitled to receive. Payments will also be issued by
the Garden City Group and will not come directly from TRS. Retirees should pay careful attention to any correspondence they
receive from the Garden City Group.
I am sure that
all TRS members effected by this ruling wish to thank Grant Plymel for his diligence in working on this issue.
The TRS Board
of Directors postponed their March 30th called meeting until 10:30 on March 31st. After an Executive Session they took "NO"
official action.
We were hoping they would drop their appeals in this case but they as of yet have not voted to drop
their appeals.
Further information will be posted as it becomes available.
The Garden City
Group, the company that is in charge of communicating with our class members, has posted a summary of the GA Court of Appeals'
decision and the subsequent reconsideration motions by both sides on its website. You can view them at www.trssuit.com .
Thanks, Grant
TRS did file
a request on 3/2 for the Appeals Court to reconsider its decision regarding payment to our class members who are waiting for
settlement. In response, our attorneys also filed a reconsideration motion, asking the court to agree to calculate payments
from the date of class members' retirement, rather than from May 1, 1998.
We sort of expected TRS to file a reconsideration,
and will now wait for the Appeals Court to send down a decision. Reconsideration decisions generally don't take long, but
I think we are looking at 30-45 days at least.
I'll update you as soon as something happens.
Grant
Some of you, but not all, know that the GA Court of Appeals handed down its decisions
last Thursday regarding TRS's appeal of the 20-year statute of limitations and attorney fees, and our appeal of the interest
rate on back pay. Below is a summary of what the court said, and we're highly pleased with the results.
1. The court
affirmed the 20-year statute of limitations, meaning all class members who weren't paid last year are included. The ruling
covers those retiring back to August 1, 1983. You'll recall the first group of retirees paid last year had retirement dates
of May 1, 1998-January 1, 2003, so this new ruling covers the earlier group retiring between August 1, 1983-April 1, 1998.
2.
The back pay and interest for this group of retirees will be paid back to May 1, 1998, six years before we filed the case,
so in effect they will get almost eleven years of back pay. Their forward pay will also be adjusted to the correct monthly
amount.
3. The Court approved an interest rate on back pay of 7%, not 4.5% as awarded to the first group of retirees. This
means that the whole class will receive this new rate, and those who have already been paid will receive a check correcting
this interest payment.
4. The court affirmed attorney fees of 30%, so our attorneys will continue to receive this rate
for all payments calculated by TRS. As I've said before, this is a large amount of money, but without this relentless group
of lawyers who risked everything to take our case, we would have nothing. I can't say enough good things about them and how
they've handled everything with dignity and professionalism.
You can read The Court of Appeals' decision in about
two weeks when it will be posted on the Court's website, www.gaappeals.us/ .
ONE BIG WARNING: TRS COULD REQUEST A RECONSIDERATION BY THE COURT OF APPEALS OR REQUEST AN APPEAL TO THE GEORGIA
SUPREME COURT, BUT WE HOPE THIS WON'T HAPPEN. IT WILL BE ABOUT 30-45 DAYS BEFORE WE HAVE AN INDICATION OF WHETHER TRS WILL
DO THIS. AFTER YEARS OF LITIGATION, WE HOPE THEY WILL QUIT STALLING AND SETTLE.
I'll be in touch as soon as I know
more.
Thanks for your support.
Grant
