Times Mirror Settles Pension Suit in Dallas

A federal court in Dallas on Friday approved a settlement between Times Mirror Co. and employees of the Dallas Times Herald who had filed a class-action lawsuit challenging the disposition of surplus assets in the newspaper’s pension fund when Times Mirror sold the paper in 1986.

Under the agreement, Los Angeles-based Times Mirror will add $7.1 million to an estimated $11.4 million that participants had earned under the defined benefit pension plan. The additional funds will increase each employee’s accrued benefits by about 50% if approved by the Internal Revenue Service, Times Mirror said.

“We are glad that we are able to resolve this lawsuit amicably,” said Robert F. Erburu, Times Mirror chairman and chief executive. “While we believe that we would have ultimately prevailed, we did not want to be involved in protracted and divisive litigation with former employees.

“In reaching this settlement,” Erburu said, “we are very pleased that the pension benefits of our former employees at the Dallas Times Herald will be significantly enhanced.”

The company said it intends to add the remaining assets of the pension fund to other Times Mirror employee pension plans. At the end of 1988, the total Times Herald plan surplus was about $15 million. Times Mirror owns the Los Angeles Times, the Baltimore Sun and Newsday among other publications and broadcast and cable television properties.

Times Mirror purchased the Times Herald in 1969. After the 1986 sale to a company headed by William Dean Singleton, Times Mirror said it intended to terminate the pension plan, which was not included in the sales transaction. But current and former Times Herald employees charged that the 1969 purchase agreement prevented Times Mirror from recovering the remaining surplus even after it had satisfied all benefit obligations to participants.