Retirees and surviving spouses in Howard University’s frozen pension plan are in line for permanent monthly increases and a lump sum under a $1.3 million class settlement that won preliminary court approval on Sept. 18. The deal covers about 1,788 plan participants and beneficiaries. Final approval is still ahead, with a fairness hearing expected on or after Dec. 18, 2026.
The money traces to a lawsuit over how Howard converted pension checks for married retirees, not to a change in the benefit formula. The Howard University Employees’ Retirement Plan was set up in 1976 and frozen in 2010, so nobody earns new credit, but thousands of people still draw monthly payments from it.
A 1984 mortality table and a 7% rate
When a retiree picks a joint and survivor annuity, the plan starts from the single-life payment and reduces it so the check can continue to a spouse after the retiree dies. Federal law says that joint annuity must be the “actuarial equivalent” of a single annuity for the life of the participant. The assumptions behind the reduction decide how big the monthly check is…