September 1, 2011

		BY CERTIFIED MAIL; RETURN RECEIPT REQUESTED

Ahold USA, Inc. Pension Committee
Ahold USA, Inc.
1385 Hancock Street
Quincy, MA 02169

	Re: 	David Smith			SSN: XXX-XX-XXXX 
		
Dear Pension Committee:

	David Smith has requested the assistance of the New England Pension Assistance Project with respect to the issue of payment of retirement benefits pursuant to the Stop & Shop Companies, Inc. Retirement Plan for Specified Employees (hereinafter “the plan”).  Included as Exhibit 1, you will find a release form signed by David Smith, authorizing the New England Pension Assistance Project to act on his behalf.  This letter constitutes a claim for retirement benefits due him pursuant to the plan and ERISA.   

	Statement of Facts
	
	David Smith was employed by Stop & Shop at two distinct time periods.  From approximately 1966 to 1982, he was employed as a member of the United Food & Commercial Workers Union.  See copy of UFCWU Pension Credit Statement, attached hereto as Exhibit 2.  He returned to Stop & Shop employment on August 28, 1989, and became a member of the plan.  He continued in that employment until May 7, 1991, when he went out on Workers Compensation.  During this period, he accrued 2 years of vesting service, according to Johanna McDonald, the Stop & Shop Manager of Pension Administration.  See copy of letter of Johanna McDonald, dated October 28, 2010, enclosed herein as Exhibit 3.  

	Argument

 David Smith should be credited with vesting service under the plan for the years 1966 through 1982 when he worked for Stop & Shop as a member of the United Food & Commercial Workers Union. Both ERISA and the terms of the plan document itself dictate this result. 

When calculating service for purposes of vesting, plans are required to include all years of service with the plan sponsor, for example, years of service with an employer in a job classification or division not covered by the plan.  ERISA Section 203(b)(1).  While years of service for purposes of benefit accrual generally begin and end with actual participation in the plan, the statute dictates that years of service with the employer as a nonparticipant in the plan must be credited toward vesting.     

In Mr. Smith’s case, the correct application of ERISA results in counting the years in which he was a member of the collectively bargained plan sponsored by the United Food & Commercial Workers Union (1966 – 1982)  as vesting time in the plan for managerial and supervisory employees in which he was a participant from 1989 through 1991. 

ERISA Section 203(b)(1)(A) through (G)  refers to certain time periods which can be disregarded by a plan when calculating a participant’s period of service.  None of these exceptions apply to Mr. Smith’s union service with Stop & Shop.   Mr. Smith left his job with Stop & Shop in 1982, after sixteen years of service (1966-1982).  He then returned in 1989 as a shop supervisor.  When all of this time is treated as vesting service under the plan as ERISA mandates, it is clear that Mr. Smith is vested in a pension pursuant to the plan.  

The terms of the plan document itself also dictate the same result.   Section 12.03 of the Stop & Shop plan states that where a former employee becomes eligible to participate in the plan, “[s]uch employee’s total period of Service with the Company and any Related Company shall be recognized for purposes of determining his vesting and eligibility to participate under the Plan.”  When this section of the plan is properly applied to Mr. Smith’s situation, it is clear that he has accrued 18 years for purposes of vesting, well in excess of the plan’s 5-year requirement for vesting. 

	Conclusion

	For the reasons discussed above, we hereby request that the plan immediately calculate and pay the retirement benefit to which David Smith is entitled pursuant to the plan and ERISA.   

	Please direct your written response to us at: New England Pension Assistance Project, Gerontology Institute, Univ. of Massachusetts Boston, 100 Morrissey Blvd. Boston, MA   02125.   Please feel free to call either of us at 617-287-7307  or to email us at: Jeanne.medeiros@umb.edu or Mollie.feeney@umb.edu  if we can provide you with any further information. 

Thank you for your attention to this matter.

								Sincerely,

								Jeanne M. Medeiros, Esq.
								Managing Attorney 

								Mollie Feeney
								Pension Counselor

Enclosures: 

Ex. 1 – Release Form

Ex. 2 – United Food & Commercial Workers Union Pension Credit Statement
	
Ex. 3- Letter of Johanna McDonald, dated October 28, 2010

cc: David Smith