Thanks to my friend Peg for her excellent reports on the civil trial of Kay Bell v PERS. You can read Peg's reports on the PERS_Oregon_Discussion Group (see left for link). To make a long story short, Kay Bell sued PERS for their faulty advice. She went through all the PERS hoops and lost at every stage. Finally, fed up with a system stacked against appellants, Kay decided to fight PERS in civil court. She received a jury trial and the jury ruled AGAINST PERS and in favor of Kay Bell (unanimously). The jury awarded Kay $200,000 in total. Of course, PERS will appeal the verdict, but unless the judge has made some egregious error, her 12-0 verdict may well stand. I could not be more pleased for Kay Bell. She fought the system on its own terms, and she beat PERS at its own game. Good for her.
I continue to be on vacation and do not expect to post much of anything until after I return next week. I'll try to post some of the spectacular Grand Canyon photos when I'm through running them through Photoshop. It is always spectacular to see, but my pictures were taken from a helicopter flying directly INTO the Canyon.
1 comment:
Hey Marc!
Just one nit to pick with your post. Kay actually sued the PERS *Board* as it is more clear that they have a fiduciary responsibility that the jury decided the board had not fulfilled. When Kristian Carlson testified representing PERS she maintained 100% that PERS is "just a record keeper" for the employers. She consistently talked about PERS' responsibility to employers and that actually all they do at PERS is "record keeping." It became clear that this case was filed against the PERS Board, not PERS. It is also clear that the board is more than a mere record keeper. Therein lays my hope for future cases!
peg
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