Help Laine and Cope Fight for Fair Retirement Benefits

Since 2015, LSU faculty members Roger Laine and Kevin Cope have been engaged in a lawsuit concerning the optional Retirement Plan for Louisiana higher education professionals. The lawsuit, which targets both LSU and the retirement program manager, TRSL, addresses the improper diversion of large sums of money that are earmarked as retirement benefits to programs and purposes from which employees reap no benefit. Additionally, the lawsuit tackles the unequal treatment of employees in the two higher education retirement programs and the failure of Louisiana institutions to carry out their fiduciary responsibilities. Finally, the lawsuit deals with the question of Social Security and whether Louisiana public universities have failed to meet the criteria for exemption from it. The lawsuit is now progressing to an appeal, and Cope and Laine are facing large court costs as well as attorney fees. To continue with the case, they must pay $11,288 in court costs and also cover a $28,000 attorney bill. To date, Cope and Laine have paid over $20,000 in court and attorney costs from their own resources. This fundraiser aims to diminish the burden by covering both the new court costs and some of the legal fees. Faculty members throughout Louisiana stand to benefit from a favorable outcome, which would show that universities need to provide faculty with proper retirement programs and might also set a precedent for legal action by other professional employees in the universities.

Key points:

1. Educators will benefit when the courts deliver a judgment on the severe problems with their retirement system.

2. Universities may also benefit if the courts call for a better, less costly way of funding faculty retirement.

3. The current system requires Louisiana's public higher education systems to pay more than 20% of salary allocations to purposes unrelated to faculty retirement.

4. Louisiana may have difficulty attracting high-quality faculty members owing to the unfairness of the retirement system.