Jolene Limbacher sends us this request for information:
I have been on long-term disability from the BJ since 1996, and have been having problems this year with Metlife. the year I left the BJ, Knight Ridder and Metlife had entered into a summary plan description for long-term disability benefits. even after K-R was dismantled, i was and continue to be under Metlife's plan because of the effective date (1996) of the policy.
Metlife now wants my bj pension. in other words, Metlife wants to deduct/keep the $174 i receive monthly in pension from the Beacon from my monthly disability Metlife benefits. i was a newspaper reporter for 31 years, and I'm pretty unhappy about the prospect of losing my pension.
I have asked Metlife - by fax, certified letter, telephone conversations, and several other letters - to show me a copy of the summary plan description that was in effect in 1996 between K-R and Metlife. nothing. I have tried the BJ's human resources dept. nothing .My repeated phone calls and correspondence with Metlife continues as they refuse to prove that they are entitled to my pension by providing me with a copy of the summary plan description. i'm putting yet another letter in the mail today to Metlife - responding to their repeated attempts for me to sign away my pension, and to request from them the summary plan description.
Does anyone have a 1996 beacon journal employee handbook? I am looking for the section of the handbook that pertains to long-term disability benefits. as I recall, Knight Ridder had said that employees who qualify for long-term disability benefits are/would be entitled to 60 percent of their pay. This has not been the case with Metlife since day 1, because it has routinely deducted/kept mySS disability benefits since 1996. Now, they are after my pension.
HumanResources does not have a 1996 BJ employee handbook, either. any assistance would be appreciated. - Jolene Limbacher
1 comment:
$174 monthly pension after 31 years of being a newspaper report speakers volumes, although I'll admit that my BJ pension, after 26 years, is decent. Not as good as my Social Security check, but I have no serious complaints about the combined total. Obviously, with all my traveling, I'm not hurting for pension/SS/investment income. But that just makes the gap between Jolene and me, and people like the late Marge Davis of the Reference Library, who received less than $100 a month, so much wider and more difficult to accept on general principles.
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