A common problem encountered by the staff of the pension counseling projects is “lost” pension plans. A pension plan can be “lost” when one company ends its business, merges with another, relocates or changes its name. The pension counseling projects are often contacted by people who no longer work for a company and are unaware of any subsequent changes that could affect their pensions.
This was the case when the Mid-America Pension Rights Project was contacted by John B. Grot, who had retired from Republic Buildings Corporation (RBC) in the 1980s. Mr. Grot knew he was entitled to a pension, but couldn’t find his former employer to claim it. This is when the staff of the Mid-America Pension Rights Project put their detective hats on to locate their client’s lost pension.
The Mid-America Pension Rights Project staff discovered that RBC had changed hands multiple times after Mr. Grot retired and was now owned by Republic Steel. Through its hard work, the counseling project was able to find Mr. Grot’s pension, worth $75,000 or $320 per month. The counseling project also found that, in addition to Mr. Grot, 70 other former employees also had pensions waiting for them.
