Former Chattanooga police chief Bobby Dodd sues city

photo Bobby Dodd

Former Chattanooga Police chief Bobby Dodd is suing the city over pension benefits.

In a lawsuit filed Wednesday, Dodd alleges his benefits were reduced because of a change in the benefit scheme that happened shortly before his retirement last December.

The changes are separate from those adopted by the city in February.

In the past, employees could elect joint survivor benefits without any extra cost. That benefit would allow Dodd's wife to continue to receive 50 percent of his pension benefits if he passed away. It was automatically elected, and officers called it the "no option option," Dodd's attorney, Jerry Tidwell, said.

But just before his retirement, the suit states, the pension board changed this provision.

Under new rules, survivor benefits would require a 5 percent monthly deduction from benefits, unless the person had been employed 25 years. Tidwell said Dodd only found out about this change a few days before his scheduled retirement.

"They said 'this is your pension benefit,' and he said 'well that's not right," Tidwell said.

Tidwell said Dodd tried for six months to get the pension board to grandfather him into the old system, but was unsuccessful.

In April, a group of retired public safety employees filed a different suit against the city. That suit focused on February cost-cutting measures that eliminated annual 3 percent cost-of-living increases for retired public safety employees.

The suit claimed the city was breaking state and federal laws by changing the increases. The city adopted those changes in an effort to shore up the under-funded pension system and cut costs.

Stay with the Times Free Press for updates as this story develops.

Contact staff writer Claire Wiseman at cwiseman@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6347. Follow her on Twitter @clairelwiseman.

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