Effects of measure pushing some workers to retire
saijjw (At I - Hroniss seldom
stop ringing these days at the
Public Employees Retirement
System offices
Prodded by Ballot Measure 8,
thousands of public: employees
must decide by year's end
whether to retire sooner than then
had planned or lose benefits once
they do leave work
Usually, about 3.000 public
employees in Oregon retire each
year.
This year. 3.000 had retired
through October Another 1.100
notified 1’KR.N in November they
will retire.
On# of them is Dan Simmons.
5.1. dire* tor of the Stale Lottery
Simmons has 30 years’ experi
ence In state government ami
could have retired last summer
But he said he had no plan to
until he received his pension
information from J’KRS and saw
he would lost’ several hundred
dollars n month in benefits if he
did not quit now
"That's the only reason I’m
doing it," he said
The measure narrowly passed
by voters Nov 8 requires employ
iass to pay 5 pensnl of their salary
into the petition system, a lien
efit employers have bean paving
Another provision of the mea
sure is more critit al to immedi
ate retirement decisions for many
employees, savs David Hailey,
f’KRS deputy director
The measure ends the practice
of using one-half the value of
unused sick leave to increase
pension benefits, which sub
stantially iiu roases (tensions for
many workers
An attorney general's opinion
is that employees who continue
working will not he able to count
past or future sick leave < redds
toward their pensions
Robert Stalick, superintendent
of the Greeter Albany S< hool I>is
tru t. is among public officials
who chose to retire at the end of
this month
Stahl k, 57, sevs he would lose
about S5tK) a month in pension
benefits if he kept working He
has ,14 years' experience in pub
lii school systems in Oregon and
had figured on Miring at the end
of the !«K» or tU'Hi m hool years
He said he didn't enjoy being
forced into it by the voters
"The part I don't like is it
would be nice to be able to
i boost* When it's either retire
now or lost* $500 a month later,
that's not a really gocxl choice."
Hailey's l»*st guess is that 2.(KK)
to 4,000 more public workers
Hum normal will retire by the end
of the year
"This is not rocket science
This is not a normal year." he
said.
I’KKS c overs 170.000 working
and 61.000 retired state and loc al
government employees, includ
ing teachers About 13,000
employees were eligible to retin*
this your with full benefits, Bni
ley said
Sunglasses
company
beats Army
in lawsuit
MINT, Wnsh (At1) A sun
glasses manufiicturcr has won n
six-year legal battle against the
U.S Aron over use of the com
pany's design for protective eve
wear.
Gargoyles Inc. said the Army
approached it in 1982. looking
for wrap-around eye protection
for soldiers, but then took Gar
goyles' design and bought thou
sands of similar spectacles from
a competitor.
The company's wrap-around
glasses have appeared in Clint
Hast wood movies and the movie
Terminator, company < hairmnn
Dennis Burns said.
Gargoyles sued the govern
ment in 1988. claiming patent
infringement The company says
the Army approached it in 1982.
looking for wrap-around eye
protection for soldiers.
Gargoyles says it developed
and field-tested eyewear that
can withstand a .22-caliber bul
let fired from 10 feet and a 12
gauge shotgun blast from 15
yards.
Its design was presented to
the Army in 1985.
In 1986. the Army awarded a
contract to American Optical
The Army later bought several
hundred thousand pairs of pru
tective spectacles, similar to
those designed by Gargoyles,
from Amerii an Optical
Gargoyles sued, claiming the
glasses were manufactured ille
gally without a license from Gar
goyles
The Army initially won a
favorable ruling in the U S.
Court of Federal Claims, but the
U.S Court of Appeals sent the
case back and told the lower
court to reconsider several
claims in the lawsuit.
Judge l,awrence S. Margolis
ruled Sept. 30 that the glasses
bought by the Army infringed
on Gargoyles patents in two
areas, and that the Army failed
to prove its claim that the patent
wasn't valid
A hearing to set damages is
scheduled for February The
sum Gargoyles will seek hasn't
been determined. Burns said
Attorneys who handled the case
for the government could not lie
reached for comment Thursday
afternoon.
Gargoyles, a privately owned
company, sells its glasses for
suggested retail prices ranging
from $65 to $165. Burns said
All contain the same prolix ttve
technology that would make
them useful for the military, he
said.
i
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