Bobby Dodd v. City of Chattanooga, Tenn.

OPINION

ROGERS, Circuit Judge.

This case arises out of a 2012 amendment to the law governing Chattanooga’s Fire and Police Pension Fund. Before 2013, a Fund member’s surviving spouse could receive benefits after the member died without incurring a proportional reduction in the member’s lifetime benefits. In 2012, the City of Chattanooga removed this “default death benefit” for members who were not eligible to retire as of January 1, 2013. Bobby Dodd was not eligible to retire on that date and therefore opted for a five-percent reduction in current, lifetime benefits so that his wife could…