Northrop Retirees Get First OK for $21.5 Million Pension Pact

Northrop Grumman Corp. secured initial approval for a $21.5 million class settlement with retirees who said their pensions were improperly shortchanged after the aerospace and defense contractor acquired their company.

The deal is expected to benefit more than 1,000 retirees whose pension benefits are subject to an offset based on their prior service with a subsidiary of TRW Inc., which Northrop acquired in 2002. Judge Jesus G. Bernal granted preliminary approval to the deal and scheduled a May 3 final approval hearing in an order issued Thursday in the US District Court for the Central District of California.

• The nine-year-old ...