Judge Sides With U. of Idaho in Lawsuit Over Retirement Benefits

A state judge has ruled that the University of Idaho was within its rights to reduce the retirement benefits promised to 268 university employees who took early retirement in 1998 and 2002. According to the Lewiston Tribune, Judge John R. Stegner granted summary judgment to the university in a class action filed by 268 retirees. Judge Stegner said he had ruled for the university because the early-retirement documents cited the campus’s Faculty-Staff Handbook, which states that the university “retained the right to modify the benefits afforded to all retirees.” The university reduced the benefits to save money in 2007. The decision may be appealed to the Idaho Supreme Court.