Disabled Police Officer Loses Pension Discrimination Appeal

A former Lake County, Ind., police officer who accused the county of improperly reserving certain pension perks for non-disabled retirees lost his lawsuit but won’t have to pay costs and attorneys’ fees of more than $220,000, the Seventh Circuit ruled.

The county had a legitimate interest in providing cost-of-living pension adjustments to retirees but not to disabled former workers, the US Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit held Wednesday. That’s fatal to Thomas Ostrowski’s claims under the equal protection clause, the court said.

“Viewed as a whole, the different plans provided to disabled and non-disabled former employees are rationally ...