Eaton v. Onan Corp.

ENTRY ON MOTIONS FOR SUMMARY JUDGMENT

HAMILTON, District Judge.

Like many employers in recent years, defendant Onan Corporation converted its defined benefit retirement plan to a design known as a “cash balance” design. In this case, Onan employees and retirees have raised a claim of age discrimination that could result in a finding that cash balance plans are essentially per.se illegal. The question is one of first impression in the courts: whether a cash balance defined benefit pension plan violates federal prohibitions on age discrimination in pension plans on the theory that the “rate of…