BECKLEY – A former employee is suing CSX Corporation for withholding the rights to her pension benefits.
On Aug. 8, CSX notified Mazie Green that because her employment with CSX ended, the lump sum value of her vested CSX pension benefit was $2,174.51 as of Nov. 1, according to a complaint filed March 6 in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of West Virginia.
Green claims the letter further stated that because she was no longer employed by CSX and because her benefit was less than $5,000, the plan required that she automatically receive an immediate distribution of the lump sum value of the benefit amount.
The letter advised Green to review her enclosed benefit calculation statement and to notify CSX's pension center immediately if any information was incorrect.
Green claims her employment was terminated from CSX in 2004 and that she had worked for the company for 25 years and was fully vested in CSX's defined benefit pension plan.
CSX's pension plan calculation statement stated that Green had deferred vested monthly benefit at the age of 65 was $27.61, however her pension benefit certification notice from Nov. 9, 2006, stated that her deferred monthly benefit at age 65 was $398.86, according to the suit.
Green claims she asked for a clarification by letter dated Aug. 14, and requested copies of the CSX pension plans that would be effective for her from July 10, 1979, with any adjustments to terms, through Aug. 8, as soon as possible.
On Aug. 27, CSX's pension center notified Green by phone that they had received her letter and that the lump sum payment was for the non-union portion of her pension, however, Green's pension benefit certification states that the amount is for union or non-agreement, according to the suit.
Green claims she did not receive the documents she requested and on Nov. 13, she was notified by Diane M. Trela, the trust officer at Centier Bank, that CSX had made Centier Bank the trustee of an automatic rollover of her pension to a safe-habor-IRA.
Trela informed Green that the IRA program was exclusively for missing or non-responsive terminated plan participants, however, Green believes she is neither of these, according to the suit.
Green claims she again requested a response to her letter dated Nov. 13 on Jan. 27 and on Feb. 12, CSX responded that their records showed her union benefit to be $398.86 per month and her non-agreement benefit to be $27.61 per month, which resulted in a lump sum amount of $2,174.51.
CSX did not supply the documents requested by Green in order to determine if her pension benefits were calculated correctly, according to the suit.
Green is seeking for the court to order CSX to provide her with the CSX pension plan documents that would be effective for her from July 10, 1979 through Aug. 8 and that CSX restore her rights to her future vested pension benefits. She is representing herself.
The case is assigned to Magistrate Judge R. Clarke VanDervort.
U.S. District Court for the Southern District of West Virginia case number: 5:15-cv-02636
