AT&T Workers Seek Massive Class Challenging Pension Calculations

AT&T Inc. workers challenging how the company calculates certain pensions asked a California federal judge to certify their case as a class action covering hundreds of thousands of people.

The workers seek two classes: one covering about 38,340 AT&T retirees who chose pensions that continue making payments to their surviving spouses after their deaths, and one covering at least 260,000 pension plan participants who haven’t yet begun receiving benefits. The claims of both classes turn on the common question of whether AT&T’s pension calculations satisfy the Employee Retirement Income Security Act’s “actuarial equivalence” requirement, according to the Monday filing.

“There ...