Washington Top Court Orders Trial in State Trooper Pension Suit

Retired Washington state troopers will get another chance to argue that a 2001 law limiting the amount of overtime that can count toward their pensions is an unconstitutional impairment of their employment contracts, according to a Thursday ruling from the state’s top court.

There’s a factual dispute as to whether the pension change—which prevented troopers nearing retirement age from using voluntary overtime to boost their benefits—was accompanied by other comparable benefits, the Washington Supreme Court held. It’s also unclear whether the change was necessary to serve the legitimate public purpose of preventing retirees from manipulating the retirement system and threatening ...