Retired United Pilots’ FICA Refund Claims Fail Again on Appeal

United Airlines pilots were rightly shut out from their suits seeking refunds of Federal Insurance Contribution Act taxes paid for their retirement plans after the airline’s bankruptcy halted those benefits, the Federal Circuit said Thursday.

In a pair of opinions, a three-judge panel affirmed that 142 of the 161 pilots who sued for refunds of FICA tax brought claims too late and found the arguments of the remaining 19 about the government’s requirements under the Administrative Procedure Act unpersuasive.

Even allowing more plaintiffs to join “would not alter the disposition of the legal issues before this court,” said Judge ...