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Colorado Sues State Pension Plan Demanding Recipients’ Data
Colorado’s public employee pension plan was sued by state Treasurer Walker Stapleton, who asked for a court order directing it to turn over data on its top beneficiaries, according to Attorney General John Suthers.
Suthers sued the Public Employees Retirement Association and 14 trustees today in state court in Denver, a spokesman for the attorney general, Mike Saccone, said in an e-mailed statement. The filing could not immediately be independently confirmed.
Stapleton -- a statutory pension plan trustee -- sued the system after being rebuffed in efforts to learn how much money is paid annually to the top 20 percent of beneficiaries, their age and year of retirement, as well as their final five years of salaries. He was not seeking their identities.
“PERA currently maintains a $21 billion unfunded liability, an amount that shows the gap between the benefits due to retirees and the available funds,” the treasurer said in a press statement announcing the filing.
Established by the state’s legislature in 1931, the retirement association counts among its membership more than 201,000 active workers and about 94,000 benefit recipients.
$38 Billion in Assets
Managing more than $38 billion in assets, it paid out more than $3.1 billion last year, according to its website. It is the 21st-biggest U.S. public pension plan.
“We haven’t seen the lawsuit so we can’t provide comment,” Katie Kaufmanis, a spokeswoman for the association, said when reached by phone.
Stapleton, a Republican, took office in January. He requested the pension plan information in a June 3 letter, according to the complaint and reiterated his request on July 11.
Reacting to the request, PERA obtained a legal opinion letter from outside counsel concluding that compliance with Stapleton’s request would cause the plan -- and the treasurer as a trustee -- to breach fiduciary duties owed plan members including those of confidentiality and of acting solely in the members’ interest.
“It is our opinion that the disclosure of member information to Treasurer Stapleton in the form requested would likely result in a breach of his fiduciary duty to the members of PERA,” attorney John A. Nixon of Philadelphia-based Duane Morris, wrote PERA board chairwoman Carole Wright on Aug. 25.
Denied Access
“The treasurer is entitled to a declaration that PERA and defendant trustees have breached their fiduciary duty by improperly and illegally denying the treasurer access to the requested PERA records,” according to the complaint.
“Filing this lawsuit was the absolute last resort,” Stapleton said in the press statement. “It is a sad state of affairs when a board member has to turn to the court system to gain access to information that will allow him or her to make more informed decisions.”
The case is Stapleton v. Public Employees Retirement Association, Denver County, Colorado, District Court (Denver).
To contact the reporter on this story: Andrew Harris in Chicago at aharris16@bloomberg.net.
To contact the editor responsible for this story: Michael Hytha at mhytha@bloomberg.net
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