PERS Data Verification

An employee entitled to PERS benefits was told by PERS that she would be receiving a certain amount in retirement benefits. The employee gave up her job and retired in reliance on the information provided by PERS. Several months after the employee retired, PERS told the employee that her retirement benefit amount was actually a quarter less than what it had told the employee she would get before she retired. Aruna took the case to trial and won a unanimous jury verdict in favor of the employee for over $200,000.  When the appellate courts reversed the judgment, Aruna and her client went before the legislature to request a legislative fix for the problem.  The legislature passed ORS 238.285 allowing PERS members to obtain a binding data verification from PERS before they retire.