Your pension and retirement benefits are critical to your long-term financial stability. You have worked hard and saved for your retirement your entire career. As a result, it is essential that you get the full benefits to which you are entitled and for which you saved. As an ERISA law firm, we are experienced employee benefits lawyers who deal with pension matters. If your benefits have been denied, reduced, or miscalculated, you have the right to fight for what you earned. We represent plan participants nationwide, with offices in Chicago and Seattle.
Retirement Benefit Problems We Handle
Plan participants come to us when something has gone wrong with the benefits they earned. The disputes we handle most often include the following.
Denial of Retirement Benefits
A plan administrator may reject a claim for pension, 401(k), 403(b) or other retirement benefits. The denial sometimes cites plan provisions you had never heard of. We review the stated reason against your plan documents and pursue the retirement benefits you earned.
Miscalculated Pension Benefits
Your monthly pension depends on your service record, salary history, and the plan formula. An error in any one of those components can shrink the pension you receive. These errors often surface after mergers, plan amendments, or reinterpretations of plan terms. We compare your calculated pension against the plan and your work history to recover the shortfall.
Vesting and Service-Credit Disputes
Once your pension vests, it cannot be taken away or reduced. Employers sometimes miscount credited service or contest your service dates to reduce a pension or deny full vesting. If you left and later returned, you may be owed credit for the earlier period. We assess whether your service and vesting were counted correctly.
Suspension or Termination of Pension Benefits
Multi-employer and union pension plans sometimes suspend or terminate a pension, often claiming a retiree returned to prohibited employment. We challenge improper suspensions and pursue pension payments that were wrongly withheld.
Improper Offsets to Your Pension
Some plans reduce your pension based on Social Security or other plan benefits. These offset calculations may be erroneous. We confirm that any offset applied to your pension is correct and permitted by the plan.
Claimed Pension Overpayments
A plan may demand repayment years later, asserting it overpaid your pension. These demands often trace to the plan’s own error. We defend retirees against overpayment claims and work to have improper demands withdrawn. Excessive plan fees can also erode a retirement account, an issue Mark DeBofsky examines in his analysis of the Seventh Circuit ruling on excessive fee claims in retirement plans.
Lost Pension Benefits After a Merger or Sale
When companies merge, are sold, or go out of business, a promised pension may ostensibly disappear. We pursue retirement benefits that were diminished through corporate restructuring.
Beneficiary and Survivor Pension Disputes
Disputes over who receives a pension or retirement benefit after a participant’s death are common and governed by strict ERISA rules. We represent surviving spouses, partners, and beneficiaries in contested retirement benefit claims.
Executive and Supplemental Pension (SERP) Disputes
Supplemental Executive Retirement Plans and other executive deferred compensation arrangements operate under different rules. They often surface when executives change roles or companies are acquired. We handle these specialized pension disputes, which frequently overlap with individual disability and benefit coverage.
If your plan administrator or employer has denied, reduced, or delayed benefits you earned, we can help you pursue them.
Know Your Rights
Your pension and retirement benefits represent decades of work and savings. Plan administrators and employers deny valid retirement claims every day, but a denial is never the final word. With over sixty years of combined experience, our team knows how to challenge wrongful denials, navigate the appeals process, and recover the retirement income your family depends on.
Does This Apply to You?
If your pension, 401(k), or other retirement benefits have been denied, reduced, or delayed, you do not have to face the plan administrator or employer alone. Contact DeBofsky Law for a confidential consultation. Our attorneys will review your situation, explain your rights under ERISA, and help you understand the best next steps toward securing the retirement benefits you earned.
Your Vested Rights and the Appeal Record
Employees gain vested rights to their pension and other retirement benefits even before they reach retirement age, which means that once you earn those benefits, they cannot be taken away. Before you file an appeal, it is worth knowing that what you submit during the plan’s appeal can limit the evidence a court will later consider, so it is wise to consult a lawyer early. You may even want to seek legal counsel before initiating a claim under your plan. If something seems wrong with what your employer or plan administrator tells you about your retirement benefits, you should consult a lawyer.
Fees for Pension and Retirement Benefit Claims
Pension and retirement disputes involve unique legal complexities, and we tailor our fee arrangements accordingly. We offer both hourly and contingency options for retirement benefit claims and discuss fees during your first consultation. Learn more about fees for employee benefit cases.
How to Challenge a Denied Pension or Retirement Benefit
Challenging a denial starts with the denial letter, the plan documents, and the reason the administrator gave. A pension and retirement benefits lawyer reviews those against your work history. The lawyer identifies the strongest arguments, gathers the supporting evidence, and prepares a complete appeal. Because what you submit during the plan’s appeal may limit the evidence a court will later consider, preparing a thorough appeal matters. If the appeal is denied, we are prepared to pursue your claim in federal court. For more on selecting counsel, see our guide on choosing the right lawyer for benefit denial cases.
Why Plan Participants Choose DeBofsky Law
DeBofsky Law only represents claimants, never insurers or plans. As an employee benefits law firm, our attorneys have argued benefit cases before federal courts of appeals and have recovered retirement benefits for employees and retirees across the country.
Mark DeBofsky is a nationally recognized ERISA authority who has argued cases that shaped how the law is interpreted.
Our pension and retirement work includes the United Airlines retiree class action, in which the firm co-counseled a case on behalf of United Airlines retirees whose promised early-retirement benefits were denied, and Skowronski v. Briggs, in which the firm secured full ERISA retirement benefit protections for a surviving civil union partner over a beneficiary challenge in a 401(k) plan. See more in our victories.
What Are the Different Types of Retirement Plans?
Retirement benefits are typically paid after your employment ends. Retirement benefits come in many forms. Some employers offer defined benefit plans, also called pension plans, under which they pay a certain amount based on your compensation and years of service. Most employers today offer defined contribution plans, typically 401(k) or 403(b) plans, which are funded by the money you set aside from your payroll and possibly a match or additional contribution from your employer. The most common examples of retirement plans offered by employers include:
- Pension Plans (both single employer and multi-employer plans)
- 401(k) Plans (offered by for-profit companies)
- 403(b) Plans (offered by non-profit organizations)
- Employee Stock Ownership Plans (ESOP)
- Supplemental Executive Retirement Plans (SERP)
- Other deferred compensation arrangements
What Laws Apply to Your Pension and Retirement Benefits?
If you are employed by a private-sector employer, your retirement plan will be governed by the federal benefits law, the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA). ERISA imposes strict funding, reporting, and fiduciary duties on your employer and plan administrator, and it establishes mandatory claims and appeals procedures if your benefits are denied, terminated, or reduced. Not every plan qualifies, and Mark DeBofsky explains the coverage rules and exceptions in his article on whether your retirement plan is governed by ERISA.
You Deserve the Retirement Income You Intended to Receive
Employers and plan administrators still make mistakes and fail to live up to their fiduciary obligations despite the legal protections afforded to you under ERISA. If your employer has denied or cut back your promised retirement benefits, you have the right to fight for what you earned and saved. You have worked hard for a secure retirement. We are here to fight for you and help you keep the benefits you earned.
Pension and Retirement Benefits FAQs
What should I do if my pension or retirement benefits are denied?
Start by reading the denial letter closely. It must state the specific reason for the denial, the plan provisions relied on, and the deadline to appeal. A denial does not mean the administrator is correct. Keep copies of your plan documents, the Summary Plan Description, correspondence, annual reports, and everything you submit or have received over the course of your employment. The appeal that follows is important, because what you submit during it can limit the evidence a court will later consider. Speaking with a retirement benefits lawyer early helps you understand whether the denial can be challenged and ensures your appeal is complete and on time.
When should I hire a lawyer for a retirement benefits dispute?
Can my employer reduce or take away my vested pension benefits?
What is fiduciary breach in a retirement plan, and what can I do about it?
A fiduciary breach happens when the people responsible for managing a retirement plan act in their own interest or fail to act in the interest of plan participants. ERISA Section 404 (29 U.S.C. 1104) imposes strict fiduciary duties on plan administrators, trustees, and investment managers. ERISA gives plan participants the right to sue for breach and recover plan losses, removal of the breaching fiduciary, disgorgement of profits, and attorney fees.
Common fiduciary breach scenarios:
- Mismanaging plan assets or investing in inappropriate vehicles
- Charging excessive fees that erode plan returns
- Failing to follow the plan documents
- Self-dealing or conflicts of interest
- Failing to monitor plan investments resulting in inadequate returns
ERISA gives plan participants the right to sue for fiduciary breach. Recovery can include restoration of plan losses, removal of the breaching fiduciary, disgorgement of profits, and attorney fees.
Can my employer reduce or change my vested pension benefits?
Generally, no. ERISA’s anti-cutback rule (Section 204(g), 29 U.S.C. 1054(g)) protects vested benefits from being reduced or taken away. Once you have earned a pension benefit through years of service, your employer cannot retroactively reduce it. Your employer can change the formula for benefits earned in the future, but past accruals are protected.
Plan amendments that violate the anti-cutback rule can be challenged. Watch for plan changes that recharacterize benefits, change actuarial assumptions in ways that reduce payouts, or eliminate early-retirement subsidies you have already qualified for.
What is a Qualified Domestic Relations Order, and how does it affect my pension after divorce?
A Qualified Domestic Relations Order (QDRO) is a court order that divides a retirement benefit between a plan participant and a former spouse, child, or other dependent in connection with divorce, child support, or alimony. The plan administrator must accept and process a QDRO if it meets ERISA’s specific requirements.
QDRO requirements:
- Identifies the participant and alternate payee
- States the amount or percentage of benefits to be paid
- Specifies the number of payments or period
- Identifies each plan to which the order applies
- Cannot require benefits not otherwise provided by the plan
Common disputes include whether the order qualifies as a QDRO at all, when payments begin, how to value the benefit, treatment of survivor benefits, and offsets for prior payments. An attorney can draft or review a QDRO before it is submitted to the plan administrator to avoid rejection or unintended consequences.
What happens if my multi-employer pension plan reduces benefits?
Multi-employer pension plans (which cover union members across multiple employers) can reduce benefits under specific circumstances. The Multiemployer Pension Reform Act of 2014 allows certain “critical and declining” plans to apply for benefit suspension to avoid insolvency.
How benefit reductions work:
- Plans in critical and declining status can apply to the Treasury Department for permission to reduce benefits
- The reduction must be approved by participants in a vote
- Some categories of participants are protected (those over 80, those receiving disability benefits, those with reductions below 110 percent of the PBGC guarantee)
The American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 created the Special Financial Assistance program through the PBGC to provide federal financial relief to financially troubled multi-employer plans, in many cases avoiding the need for benefit reductions.
If your multi-employer plan has notified you of a benefit reduction, an attorney can review whether the reduction complied with the law and whether you fall within a protected category.
Can I sue my employer for excessive fees in my 401(k) plan?
Yes, in some circumstances. Excessive fee lawsuits are a major area of ERISA fiduciary breach litigation, governed by the continuing-duty-to-monitor standard set in Tibble v. Edison International (2015) and the pleading standard refined in Hughes v. Northwestern University (2022). Plan participants have successfully challenged plan administrators for failing to monitor and control fees that erode retirement savings over time.
Common excessive fee allegations:
- Selecting expensive investment options when cheaper share classes were available
- Using actively managed funds when passive index funds would perform comparably at lower cost
- Failing to negotiate recordkeeping fees
- Including unnecessary investment options that drive up costs
- Failing to monitor fees over time
These cases are typically brought as class actions because the harm to any individual participant is small but the aggregate impact across all participants is large. If you have concerns about your 401(k) plan’s fees, an ERISA attorney can review the plan’s fee disclosures and investment lineup to evaluate whether a claim is viable.
My pension was miscalculated. Can a lawyer help me recover the difference?
What happens to my 401(k) if my employer files for bankruptcy?
Pension benefits may be affected by bankruptcy; however, although vested pension plans should not be affected.
How do I appeal a denied pension or retirement benefit?
It depends on the plan, but for most ERISA-governed retirement plans the deadline to appeal is 60 days from the date of receipt of the denial under 29 C.F.R. 2560.503-1. That is shorter than the 180 days that applies to disability claims under ERISA. The plan must give you a written denial explaining its reasons. The appeal is your opportunity to challenge those reasons and submit additional evidence.
Missing the 60-day appeal deadline can permanently bar your claim. Read the denial letter carefully for the deadline. If your retirement benefit involves complex calculation disputes, vesting questions, or service-credit challenges, an attorney can identify what evidence is needed before the deadline runs.
What happens to my pension if my employer goes bankrupt?
It depends on the type of plan. Most defined benefit pension plans are insured by the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation (PBGC), a federal agency. If your employer cannot pay promised benefits, the PBGC may take over the plan and pay benefits up to a statutory maximum. The maximum changes annually and varies by retirement age.
Defined contribution plans (401(k), 403(b), ESOP) are not insured by the PBGC, but plan assets are held in trust separate from the employer’s assets and are generally protected from the employer’s creditors. Multi-employer plans have different rules and limited PBGC protection.
If your employer files for bankruptcy and you have concerns about your pension, an attorney can help you understand which protections apply to your specific plan.
How is a pension survivor benefit calculated, and who is entitled to it?
It depends on the plan and the marital status of the participant at the time of death. Most ERISA defined benefit plans require a survivor benefit for the participant’s spouse unless the spouse waived it in writing on the form prescribed by the plan. The amount is typically a percentage of the participant’s accrued benefit, often 50 percent or 75 percent.
For divorced participants, a Qualified Domestic Relations Order (QDRO) entered as part of the divorce can give an ex-spouse a share of the benefit. Disputes between current spouses, ex-spouses, children, and other claimed beneficiaries are common in pension survivor benefit cases.
What special issues arise with Employee Stock Ownership Plans (ESOPs)?
ESOPs are retirement plans that invest primarily in employer stock. They face risks that other retirement plans do not because participants’ retirement savings are concentrated in the employer’s own securities. The most common ESOP disputes involve stock valuation challenges (fiduciaries can be liable for overpaying for company stock or failing to obtain an independent valuation), statutory diversification rights for participants over age 55 with at least 10 years of participation, and fiduciary breach claims when the company’s financial condition deteriorates. ESOP fiduciary duty claims are governed by the pleading standard set in Fifth Third Bancorp v. Dudenhoeffer, which requires specific allegations about how a fiduciary should have acted differently.
Common ESOP disputes:
- Stock valuation challenges (fiduciaries can be liable for overpaying for company stock or for failing to obtain an independent valuation)
- Diversification rights for participants over age 55 with at least 10 years of participation (statutory right to diversify into other investments)
- Concentration risk when employer stock loses value
- Distribution disputes when employees leave or retire
- Fiduciary breach claims when the company’s financial condition deteriorates and fiduciaries fail to act
ESOP fiduciary duty when employer stock declines is governed by federal precedent that requires participants to plead specific allegations about how a fiduciary should have acted differently. ESOP claims are technically complex and benefit from counsel experienced in this area.
What is a top-hat plan and how does it differ from regular retirement benefits?
A top-hat plan is a non-qualified deferred compensation plan that an employer maintains for a select group of management or highly compensated employees. The key differences from qualified retirement plans: top-hat plans are not subject to ERISA’s funding, vesting, and fiduciary requirements; plan assets are generally subject to the employer’s creditors in bankruptcy (so the executive can lose the benefit if the employer fails); and only ERISA’s claims procedure rules apply, not the broader ERISA protections.
How top-hat plans differ from regular retirement plans:
- Not subject to ERISA’s funding, vesting, and fiduciary requirements
- Plan assets are generally subject to the employer’s creditors in bankruptcy (so the executive can lose the benefit if the employer fails)
- Limited ERISA procedural protections (the claims procedure rules apply, but most other ERISA provisions do not)
- Federal court enforcement is available for benefits owed under the plan
Common top-hat disputes include whether the plan qualifies as a top-hat plan at all (this affects which protections apply), interpretation of plan terms, forfeiture provisions for executives who leave under non-compete restrictions, and treatment in employer bankruptcy.
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Recent Victories in Retirement Benefits
See how DeBofsky Law has protected clients’ pension and 401(k) rights in court.
Retirement Benefits
$27.5M Settlement: United Airlines Retiree ERISA Class Action
DeBofsky Law co-counseled a class action on behalf of 8,500 United Airlines retirees whose promised early-retirement benefits were denied. The case resulted in a $27.5 million settlement.
Retirement Benefits | ERISA
Skowronski v. Briggs
DeBofsky Law won a dismissal in favor of a civil union partner who was sued by her late partner’s adult children over IBM 401(k) benefits. The court confirmed that under the Illinois Civil Union Act and the IBM Plan’s own terms, a civil union partner qualifies as a surviving spouse entitled to full ERISA retirement benefit protections.
Accidental Death
Prather v. Sun Life
On December 13, 2016, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit issued a ruling in the case of Prather v. Sun Life & Health Ins. Co. (U.S.), 843 F.3d 733 (7th Cir. 2016). The case, which involved a claim for accidental death insurance benefits, overturned a lower court ruling denying Lee Ann Prather’s claim and ordered Sun Life to pay the full amount.
Learn More About Pension Law to Protect Your Rights
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