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Last Updated: Tuesday, 24 May 2011 19:56
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Published: Saturday, 09 January 2010 00:16
To clear up any misunderstanding surrounding the events and significance of the Federal District Court activities we are engaged in, the following information is provided:
There are several counts and several defendants in our complaint complicating things but the overall complaint can be broken into 3 categories:
1) A Motion for an injunction barring the PBGC from reducing Pensions until the matter is settled in court
2) Four Counts challenging the PBGC's termination of our plan as procedurally defective, and violation of ERISA and the Due Process clause of the 5th amendment
3) One Count Naming GM, US Treasury, Bloom, Rattner, Geithner, and others TBD as defendants alleging violations of the equal protection component of the 5th amendment
The initial hearing on December 22nd was to consider our motion for an injunction and the supplemental briefs being filed by both the PBGC and DSRA attorneys today, Friday (1/8/10) will be reviewed by the judge during the next week or two. After reviewing them he will decide whether to convene another hearing or rule on the injunction based on the original hearing and briefs that have been filed.
The motion on the injunction must be disposed of first before any of the other issues can be dealt with by the Court. Issuance (or non-issuance) of an injunction will NOT determine the remainder of the complaint. The PBGC in their reply has asked the judge to dismiss the first 3 counts of our complaint but that is common in cases like this and will most likely not be granted. Once the matter of the injunction is decided, the judge will deal with the actual complaints against the PBGC and the other defendants.
Some of the Key criteria for used for deciding whether to grant an injunction are:
1) The plaintiff has a reasonable probability of winning their case
2) If the injunction is not granted, Irreparable Harm will befall the plaintiff
3) The plaintiff's constitutional rights have been violated
While we are hopeful that the Judge will grant an injunction ... progress on our case will not stop nor will our chances of winning be diminished if he fails to do so. The main purpose of the injunction is to preserve the income of our members while this winds its way through the courts and political process.
