Former Chattanooga Police Chief Bobby Dodd sues over pension benefits

photo Bobby Dodd

Updated to reflect that the changes to Bobby Dodd's pension were made a year before Dodd chose to sue Chattanooga.

Former Chattanooga Police Chief Bobby Dodd claims that a change in the city's pension fund will cost him thousands of dollars over the course of his retirement.

New policies adopted by the Fire and Police Pension Fund's board just before Dodd's retirement last December are at issue in a suit filed against the city Wednesday. Dodd alleges his payout was reduced because of a change in the benefit structure.

Dodd's attorney, Jerry Tidwell, said the charges in his complaint could affect as many as 35 other officers whom he said were hired before 1992 and should be grandfathered into the system along with Dodd.

In the past, employees could elect joint survivor benefits without any extra cost if they were employed before 1992, Dodd said. That would allow Dodd's wife to continue to receive 50 percent of his pension benefits if he passed away. It used to be automatically elected and free, Tidwell said.The pension changes are separate from the reforms approved by the city in February.

But just before Dodd retired, the suit states, the pension board made him aware of changes to the provision. Under new rules adopted in January 2013, Dodd would need to have been employed before 1992 and have 25 years of service before January 2013. He retired in December 2013 with 25-and-a-half years of service, but didn't reach the 25-year mark until June 2013.

Tidwell said the notice of the meeting where changes were made was "incomprehensible."

Tidwell said Dodd found out about the change only a few days before his retirement, and that the changes will cost Dodd thousands each year.

"They said, 'This is your pension benefit,' and he said, 'Well, that's not right,'" Tidwell said.

Tidwell said Dodd tried for six months to get the pension board to grandfather him into the old system, but was unsuccessful.

Chattanooga Fire and Police Pension Fund Administrator Frank Hamilton said he could not comment on the lawsuit. He would not provide specifics on Dodd's pension. Details will come out in court, he said.

City Attorney Wade Hinton also had little to say.

"We are reviewing it with my team internally, and that's all I can really comment on at this point," Hinton said.

In April, a group of retired public safety employees filed a separate suit against the city. That suit focused on February cost-cutting measures that eliminated automatic annual 3 percent cost-of-living increases for retired public safety employees.

The suit claimed the city was breaking state and federal laws by changing the increases. Attorney Mike Richardson recently filed an injunction aimed at stopping the change in increases from taking effect in early January. That injunction could potentially affect all pensioners, Richardson said.

Under the changes addressed in Dodd's complaint, the deduction is based on the age of the spouse, Tidwell said some retirees could be losing as much as 7.5 percent annually.

"There may be others that intervene in this case and plead in with their own lawyers," Tidwell said.

Fraternal Order of Police President Sean O'Brien said only a relatively small number of retirees is affected by the issue raised in Dodd's complaint.

"This is really a very narrow scope in terms of the people that were impacted," O'Brien said.

Dodd's suit asks for relief in the form of pension benefits without the additional penalty, and for court costs.

Contact staff writer Claire Wiseman at cwiseman@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6347. Follow her on Twitter @clairelwiseman.

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