Lockheed Martin Sued Over Pension De-Risking Move, Joining AT&T

Lockheed Martin Corp. jeopardized retirees’ benefits by offloading their pensions to an overly risky annuity provider, a proposed class action says.

The lawsuit, filed Wednesday in the US District Court for the District of Maryland, targets Lockheed’s decision to transfer more than $9 billion in pension obligations to subsidiaries of Athene Holding Ltd., which aren’t named as defendants. This move caused 31,000 people to lose the federal pension protections of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act, and it put their ability to receive retirement benefits at risk, according to the lawsuit.

Pension de-risking transactions have exploded in recent years, ...