Tribune Co. staffers file ERISA lawsuits

Four current or former employees of Tribune Co., the parent company of Newsday, are taking aim at the Chicago-based media giant in separate lawsuits over the company's handling of its retirement savings programs.

In similarly worded suits that could combine into a class-action case, the employees allege the Tribune Company Employee Benefits Committee, which administers the company's retirement savings plans, inappropriately invested retirement savings in Tribune stock. The suits were filed between May 18 and June 8 in U.S. District Court, Northern District of Illinois. All claim the Newsday and Hoy circulation scandals caused their investments to lose money. A hearing is slated for June 29 to determine whether to consolidate the cases.

Edwin J. Mills of Stull, Stull and Brody in Manhattan, who represents retiree Kenneth Pugh of Florida in his Employee Retirement Income Security Act claim, said his client and others lost tens of thousands to hundreds of thousands of dollars because of the retirement fund's investment in Tribune stock. He said they lost money from the stock's decline and failed to benefit from potential gains in the best-performing alternative available under the plan.

The suits also seek payback of losses that may arise if additional wrongdoing is revealed.

The suits have varying periods under which they claim the losses occurred, but go back as far as October 2001 to the present.

During the class periods, the stock reached a high of more than $50 in late 2003. As of Wednesday, Tribune's stock was near $36.

Pugh claims Tribune failed in its fiduciary responsibility to the retirement plans by not ensuring the Tribune stock was a suitable investment. The other suits make the same allegations.

Representatives of Newsday's 2,000 union members said no one there has joined any of the suits and union attorneys are still reviewing the cases.

Newsday and Tribune officials had no comment on the pending litigation.

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