Lawsuit alleges Criminal District Court cost staffers thousands in retirement savings

Six Orleans Parish Criminal District Court staffers have sued their employer, alleging officials failed to enroll them in a state retirement system for years — ultimately depriving them of hundreds of thousands of dollars — even as the court quietly paid two other employees more than $150,000 for the same lost funds.

Those two payouts appear to be the only time the court has offered retirement-savings settlements to its employees since 2010, when another set of staffers sued the court for its failure to enroll them in the same pension plan: the Louisiana State Employees' Retirement System, or LASERS.

Those who participate in the plan contribute 7.5% of their pay, which is matched by the court. Combined, it earns an accrual rate of 2.5%, until the employees retire and begin making withdrawals.

In their lawsuit — filed Wednesday in Civil District Court against the criminal court; its chief judge, Robin Pittman; and the state of Louisiana — the six plaintiffs allege they lost a combined 42 years of retirement benefits before the court properly enrolled them in the system. According to records obtained through a public records request, at least three more court employees unnamed in the lawsuit lost a combined 69 years of retirement contributions.

Sources familiar with the situation estimate the court's portion of the costs are more than $1 million. Last year, its total operating budget was approximately $6.6 million.

A history of errors

According to the new lawsuit, the six employees first learned that they had not been properly enrolled in LASERS two years ago, when they received copies of letters dated Jan. 8, 2021. The letters, sent from the court to LASERs, admitted to a "administrative error" in the staffers' enrollment.

"Until they received copies of these letters, none of the petitioners had reason to be aware that they should have been enrolled in LASERS as of their initial hire dates," the lawsuit states.

It remains unclear what prompted the court to send the letters more than a decade after it was first sued for the issue. In 2010, nine employees filed a similar lawsuit, alleging the court had failed to properly enroll them in LASERS until years into their employment. Then-Chief Judge Ray Bigelow, now serving in an ad hoc capacity at the court, declined to comment. The lawsuit was dismissed after civil court judges ruled the lawsuit was not brought timely.

Ten years later, the first retirement settlement was paid to one of the lawsuit's plaintiffs.

Quiet payouts

Records show the court paid the employee more than $78,000 on July 15, 2020, the same day then-Chief Judge Keva Landrum announced her resignation from the court. The employee worked in Landrum's courtroom, although Judge Karen Herman, who last year was elected to the 4th Circuit Court of Appeal, signed the check.

Neither Landrum nor Herman returned phone calls.

Two years ago, the court cut a second check: On Jan. 28, 2021 — less than three weeks after the court wrote to LASERS admitting its error and asking for the costs of restoring the staffers properly into the retirement system — it paid more than $78,000 to a second employee.

There do not appear to be any minutes or other records of any discussions the judges might have had about the payments.

Attempts to resolve

The new lawsuit says the six employees have attempted to resolve the issue with the court. "However, despite these demands, and despite the court's actions to remedy its errors for other employees in identical situations, the court has heretofore failed to take any action to remedy the injuries," the lawsuit states.

Records show that the court unsuccessfully tried to settle the matter through the Office of Risk Management, a state self-insurance fund.

The court later brought the matter to the Louisiana Attorney General's Office. The assistant attorney general assigned to the defend the claim did not return a call Friday.

Pittman, the chief judge, also did not return a call seeking comment.