Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article

Skip to comments.

Continental suing pilots over divorce scam
carrentals.co.uk ^ | May 25th, 2009 | Robert Bergerson

Posted on 05/25/2009 8:21:07 PM PDT by Paleo Conservative

Continental Airlines has revealed that it is taking legal action against nine of its pilots that allegedly got divorces so their ex-spouses could collect retirement benefits – while the pilots continued to fly.

According to the airline, the pilots involved in the scam concealed the divorces from their children and their friends, and then re-married after the ex-spouses received payouts from the carrier.

Continental said that the amount it paid out amounted to $10-11 million, all in pension distributions.

Eight of the nine pilots involved have either quit or been fired, but one was hired back by the airline after making a commitment to pay the money back, according to an airline spokesman - although he had been named as a defendant in the lawsuit after failing to repay the pension distribution. The “ex-spouses” were also named as defendants in the action.

The suit was filed in Houston’s federal district court last week by the airline and the pilots’ retirement plan committee. In the action, Continental is asking the court to order that the pilots return the money and also to declare that the airline was not in violation of any anti-discrimination laws when it fired the pilots.

Continental charged that the pilots were taking advantage of a loophole in a federal pension law that allows payment of benefits in divorce actions, before the worker actually retires. Seven male and two female pilots were named in the lawsuit.


TOPICS: Business/Economy; Crime/Corruption
KEYWORDS: aerospace; continentalairlines
Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first previous 1-2021-4041 next last
To: Rebelbase

“P.I.’s earn their living proving stuff like this”

Most states have no-fault divorce. Any reason is good enough,,.


21 posted on 05/25/2009 9:35:59 PM PDT by babygene
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 17 | View Replies]

To: Larry Lucido

If you assume that the pension plan has a finite amount of money to be distributed to retired pilots, and several pilots through deception, fraud, or selfishness decide to scam the system, and take more than they are entitled to, then there is a problem. They are, in effect, screwing their fellow pilots out of receiving their proper share of the plan. BTW, 7 of the 9 were SCABS during the 1983 strike. Sort of fits the profile.


22 posted on 05/25/2009 9:42:31 PM PDT by ab01
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 18 | View Replies]

To: Poison Pill
Of course it is, but when you do an act whether it be divorce, lie on your taxes etc. to receive money that you would have not ordinarily receive, then it is fraud. And what about the moral issue? This is why America is in the predicament it is in now, because people like you thinks it is ok to take things that don't belong to you. Ultimately we pay the price as consumers with higher ticket prices or stupid $15 luggage fees.
23 posted on 05/25/2009 9:45:24 PM PDT by claymax
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 13 | View Replies]

To: All

Just wait until gay marriage gets installed, and heterosexual friends start marrying for benefits...I guarantee there will be many yet unseen ways to work the system when it happens.

If same sex couples can do it..why not same sex friends? what are they going to do? Make you prove it in court?


24 posted on 05/25/2009 9:50:39 PM PDT by uncle fenders
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 22 | View Replies]

To: ab01
“7 of the 9 were SCABS during the 1983 strike. Sort of fits the profile.”

Which means two were not. I once had an MEC chairman tell me that folks that called people SCABS, were the same kind of folks that called black folks n*****s. I thought he was being quite uncharitable, but who am I to disagree with an MEC chaiman? Your allegiance to your union, and the world view through that lens, produces a truly myopic reality. Sadly, airline pilots and other blue collar workers do themselves no service when they subscribe to this herd mentality.

Don't take this critique too personally. I've just seen too many great pilots exterminate their careers by blindly following the union line. Group psychology is seductive, but that sort of groupthink is passing. Intellectual pragmatists are needed in tough economic times. Do you really think that hating someone (and yes, that is exactly what it is) based on their acceptance of a labor arrangement they may never have personally agreed to is adult behavior? I personally think it is immoral to make such distinctions, but that's just me. Obviously the majority of union airline pilots could not publicly take such a position with others keeping score with scablists, but do you really believe that most buy into that mentality without coercion? I doubt it.

25 posted on 05/25/2009 10:13:29 PM PDT by Habibi ("We gladly feast on those who would subdue us". Not just pretty words........)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 22 | View Replies]

To: freeplancer

bada bing,, thats the answer. They were gay and embarrassed to say so. Cont Air would be terrified.


26 posted on 05/25/2009 11:41:16 PM PDT by DesertRhino (Dogs earn the title of "man's best friend", Muslims hate dogs,,add that up.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 8 | View Replies]

To: Habibi
folks that called people SCABS, were the same kind of folks that called black folks n*****s.

Bears repeating. And it is a sure way to id a union turd!

27 posted on 05/25/2009 11:50:25 PM PDT by packrat35 (Nancy Pelosi is a liar!)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 25 | View Replies]

To: babygene
A divorce is a civil action, and is meaningless except for the consequences in civil law, such as benefits, property and taxation. It is not as if these people dissolved their emotional bonds or lifelong commitment to one another, which is the more important thing.

This is yet another instance where government intrusion in to marriage works to the detriment of the institution. By hanging all of these other civil legal matters on marriage, the government is complicating the issue and giving some people a powerful financial incentive to divorce. A few of these may divorce civilly, but remain married in their own eyes, but how many of these wind up divorcing completely and dissolving their bonds?

The solution, of course, is to get government out of the marriage business altogether. Let people get civil unions for the purposes of benefits, property, and taxation. Then if they choose to get married by some social or religious institution, or all by themselves, that is their business, and the government would have nothing to do with it.

28 posted on 05/26/2009 2:41:17 AM PDT by gridlock (Barack Obama is Kristy Yamaguchi and Dick Cheney is the Zamboni.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 11 | View Replies]

To: uncle fenders
If same sex couples can do it..why not same sex friends? what are they going to do? Make you prove it in court?

"So, Your Honor, the Plaintiff has proved by a preponderance of the evidence, that the Defendants in the above cited action are both insufficiently fabulous to be covered by the Homosexual Marriage Statute, and therefore the supposed marriage should be considered null and void... etc..."

29 posted on 05/26/2009 2:47:18 AM PDT by gridlock (Barack Obama is Kristy Yamaguchi and Dick Cheney is the Zamboni.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 24 | View Replies]

To: Paleo Conservative
Seven male and two female pilots were named in the lawsuit.

Wow.

Greed runs wild.

30 posted on 05/26/2009 3:37:18 AM PDT by SkyPilot
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 2 | View Replies]

To: dalereed
They should have stayed divorced and just kept quiet and everyone would have thought they were married.

Rule #1 of why a crime or conspiracy will fail:

Someone else knows about it besides you.

There were at least 18 people who knew about this scam (not even counting all the lawyers, clerks, and financial consultants involved in the divorces). The chances of all them keeping their mouths shut was x10 to the negative 32th power.

31 posted on 05/26/2009 3:41:35 AM PDT by SkyPilot
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 10 | View Replies]

To: gridlock
The solution, of course, is to get government out of the marriage business altogether.

The gay marriage issue is squabbling over government benefits, government encouraged private benefits.

32 posted on 05/26/2009 3:52:47 AM PDT by listenhillary (Rahm Emmanuel slip - A crisis is a terrible thing to waste.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 28 | View Replies]

To: babygene
WINNER !
33 posted on 05/26/2009 5:02:08 AM PDT by stylin19a
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 9 | View Replies]

To: claymax
when you do an act whether it be divorce, lie on your taxes etc. to receive money that you would have not ordinarily receive, then it is fraud.

No. One is a crime and the other isn't.

Two people live together. The next year, the tax code changes to say that if they marry they pay less in tax. They get married to take advantage of the the rule. The next year as a married couple they receive money that they would not ordinarily receive had they stayed unmarried. Is that fraud? How about two married people that are no longer in love. They now sleep in different rooms, take separate vacations but stay married for financial reasons, let's say it's a health benefit from one spouse's company. That company would pay less if they got divorced. They endure a loveless marriage for money. Is that fraud? Should they be forced to split? Should companies and governments have a "Love Czar"?

Continental set a rule. They followed it. Don't want the behavior? Don't set the rule.

34 posted on 05/26/2009 6:13:21 AM PDT by Poison Pill (The Bond Market: Doing the job the Republicans won't do.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 23 | View Replies]

To: Paleo Conservative

Men are marrying Men and Women are marrying Women and Transvestites are marrying ITS! and we get excited about utilizing a Legal Option? Unbelievable! Let them go , just keep the Pilots attentive and polished when they are Flying me anywhere! :-)


35 posted on 05/26/2009 8:40:36 AM PDT by True Republican Patriot (GOD BLESS AMERICA and Our Last Great President George W. Bush)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: AdmSmith; Berosus; Convert from ECUSA; dervish; Ernest_at_the_Beach; Fred Nerks; george76; ...
Continental Airlines has revealed that it is taking legal action against nine of its pilots that allegedly got divorces so their ex-spouses could collect retirement benefits -- while the pilots continued to fly. According to the airline, the pilots involved in the scam concealed the divorces from their children and their friends, and then re-married after the ex-spouses received payouts from the carrier. Continental said that the amount it paid out amounted to $10-11 million, all in pension distributions.
They need to mail their resumes to the White House.
36 posted on 05/27/2009 6:03:44 PM PDT by SunkenCiv (https://secure.freerepublic.com/donate/____________________ Profile updated Monday, January 12, 2009)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Paleo Conservative

I have a good buddy who’s a Continental pilot... I can’t wait to tease him about this. (He’s happily married for many years, and his daughter flies A-10’s in the Idaho ANG, and has smoked mucho Taliban).


37 posted on 05/27/2009 6:06:00 PM PDT by Tijeras_Slim
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Poison Pill
We can “what if” this to death, but, when you do an act to take money from someone or entity that you know is not yours, it is fraud. Simple. One thing I tell all my friends, things are simple, it is people make it difficult. And your explanation my friend, is absurd. The under lying issue at hand here is, they knew it was wrong, and this just undermines our argument with marriage. If people are going to be so cavalier about marriage, then why don't we allow the gay mafia to have their wish. I stand for principles and I go out of my way to respect everyone. but this kind of behavior is really slimy. (sorry, couldn't think of a better word that wouldn't get me kicked off)
38 posted on 05/27/2009 11:26:04 PM PDT by claymax
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 34 | View Replies]

To: claymax
to take money from someone or entity that you know is not yours, it is fraud.

You think that money isn't theirs? Before you go tossing around words like "scam" and "slimy" and "fraud", park you high horse and think about how those terms apply to what these people are actually doing. You're claiming they are trying to take something that isn't theirs. Really? What are they trying to take that does not belong to them? Are they taking someone else's pension money? No. Are they trying to take Continental's money? No. Are they taking an amount of money that is more than they put in? No. They are trying to gain access to the money THEY PUT IN. As far as I can tell from the story, they did not get one more cent back than the balance in THEIR account. More specifically, they are trying to get THEIR money that is being controlled by a company that is failing. This is not a "what if". Continental is losing money. Lots of money. If the company goes down, their money could be at risk. Furthermore, at the rate the government is printing money, THEIR money is losing value. They would like to preserve that money. As it happens, there is a legal vehicle to do that. Civil divorce. They are using the legal means at their disposal to opt out of a bad situation created by Continental and the government.

Now,why do you think Continental would fight tooth and nail to keep them from getting access to pension money that does not belong to Continental or TO ANYONE ELSE? Hmmm?

Reporters are lazy. Just because they use the word "scam" to make these people look like villains for wanting their own money back, doesn't mean you have to fall for it without stopping to think about what is really going on.

39 posted on 05/28/2009 7:57:34 AM PDT by Poison Pill (The Bond Market: Doing the job the Republicans won't do.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 38 | View Replies]

To: Poison Pill
Again, I am going to waste 5 more minutes debating you on something that is not defend-able. I am pretty sure you already researched Continental and found out what type of Retirement Pension Plan that they do offer their pilots, or you wouldn't of made the statements you made! That being said, the article is very vague on what type they do offer. Read this carefully, because this is very important, there are 2 types of plans I am familiar with and they are 1)DEFINED BENEFIT PLAN which is FULLY FUNDED by the company.
If this is the case, then your statement about them not taking money from the company is ludicrous. Because what happens in divorce proceedings is a Judge can take a percentage or all and give that to the spouse, and they usually don't have to pay a penalty for early withdraw, or the taxes. And if I remember right, 8 of the 9 quit (I guess the 9th one could not get his 2 weeks notice in fast enough before the company realized what was taking place)
So that means the pilot is free and clear to work at another Airline and start the process all over again. He can start up another Retirement plan with, lets say Delta. Again the article is vague on this as well, but I am assuming that all of them remarried after they received the Retirement benefit from Continental. So now the Pilot has a Lump sum retirement paid for by Continental and working at Delta (not retired, mind you) and working on his second retirement benefits. Two retirements for the price of one! And you don't see anything wrong with this? That my friend is a scam. Why would they have to keep this secret from their family and friends if it wasn't? Hmmmmm!!!!
I know this isn't important, but the second type of Retirement Benefits plan is the DEFINED CONTRIBUTION plan. This is where you can fund totally or your company matches a certain percentage and you usually are in charge of where that money goes. The most popular is your 401k. And those are broken up into safe harbor plan, traditional and simple! A few others fall into this category as well like ESOP (employee stock ownership plan) and profit sharing.

I know this is alot of information for you to wrap your brain around that is why I tried to keep it simple on the previous post. This is why we are in the financial mess we are in.....because of greed, and that is exactly the behavior these pilots showed when they did what they did! Not to mention, making a mockery of marriage to expose a loop hole in the system.That pissed me off more than the double dipping of benefits.

40 posted on 05/29/2009 12:03:56 AM PDT by claymax
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 39 | View Replies]


Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first previous 1-2021-4041 next last

Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.

Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article

FreeRepublic, LLC, PO BOX 9771, FRESNO, CA 93794
FreeRepublic.com is powered by software copyright 2000-2008 John Robinson