DETROIT (WXYZ) – The Wayne County Retirement Board voted unanimously Monday to pursue nearly $600,000 in pension benefits they say was paid to a retired judge.
The vote follows news last week that the county said it missed the pensions of retired judges Richard Hathaway and David Szymanski, both of whom had been collecting their pensions for more than a decade.
RELATED: Wayne County says it paid out 2 judges’ pensions for $1 million, it may not get the money
At Monday’s meeting, the board revealed that a third former judge — Edward Thomas — was also considered overpaid by the retirement system. Officials did not say how much, but the amount is believed to be as high as $600,000.
Although retirement board meetings are usually sleepy affairs, those in attendance on Monday had a hard time getting a seat. Members of organizations from across the county showed up early to see what action the board would take.
“There seems to be (something) funny about the money, so I have to go see what it is,” said Allen Cox, president of the Wayne County Deputy Sheriff’s Association.
Darlene Buffington, former vice president of AFSCME 1659, said she has seen her members have to pay extra money that was wrongly added to their paychecks. He said, the judge should not be different.
“No one is exempt if there are protocols and practices in place,” Buffington said.
Hathaway and Szymanski both served decades on the bench before accepting positions with the county, and when the pension system calculated their pensions in previous years, they treated all their years of service the same way.
That was a mistake, the county now says, because judges are paid more by the state, not the county.
When they recalculated their pensions, both men saw significant cuts: Szymanski’s pension dropped from $81,000 a year to $36,000, and Hathaway’s $101,000 pension dropped to $66,000.
After leaving a closed session on Monday, board members voted 7-0 to reject the settlement proposal made by Hathaway – they refused to disclose the details of the proposal – and allowed the district attorneys to go to court to pursue the $595,000 they say was overpaid.
“We rejected it and instructed Wayne County’s corporate counsel to seek what is owed and continue the litigation process,” said County Deputy CEO Assad Turfe, who also serves on the retirement board.
Turfe says the decision was not difficult.
“It wasn’t a tough call at all. This is good governance. This is what the board’s responsibility is,” he said.
Hathaway did not respond to a call or email seeking comment on today’s news.
Today’s vote did not address the amount already paid to Judge Szymanski—about $450,000—largely because Szymanski has already taken the district to court, arguing that his pension should not be reduced first.
In an email Monday afternoon, Szymanski said the district was wrong to lower his pension.
Monday evening, Szymanski sent an email statement to 7 News Detroit:
“It is important to understand that what they consider to be overpayment is the reason we disagree, that the calculations were wrong and that I was overpaid. That is not a proven fact. That is what we are challenging. Even setting aside our arguments that WCERS does not have the power to open my pension in the first place, their recalculation of their pension is wrong: The Recalculation of their Pension is wrong: The Recalculation of Fintirement Recovery Recipe. the highest five consecutive years of service, when I received about $155,000 in paid county pay, under the statutory form of 5 to 505 years of service. The only way I was awarded the WCERS the $36,180 is by dividing two separate AFC numbers, one for judicial years, one for treasurer years. If a person starts in the County as a clerk in the Sheriff’s Department, and later receives a higher paid position with the Clerk, he does not finish the years with the Sheriff and start a new clock with the Clerk’s office.
Contact 7 researcher Ross Jones at ross.jones@wxyz.com or at (248) 827-9466.
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