Delta Air Lines Beats Suit Over Workers’ Comp Pension Offsets

Delta Air Lines Inc. defeated a proposed class action by Northwest Airlines retirees claiming their pensions were wrongly cut to account for workers’ compensation settlements, when a Minnesota federal judge said the airline reasonably interpreted its pension plan.

Delta validly exercised its discretion under the pension plan when it reduced workers’ monthly benefits to account for lump sum settlements they received after suffering work-related injuries, Judge Joan N. Ericksen of the U.S. District Court for the District of Minnesota said Thursday.

This interpretation doesn’t contradict plan language, and it’s in line with how the Social Security Administration offsets disability benefits ...