Sandusky Pension Restored by Commonwealth Court

A state court in Pennsylvania overruled a previous decision from the State Employees’ Retirement Board and reinstated Jerry Sandusky’s retirement pension.

Sandusky stopped receiving payments of $4,900 per-month in 2012 when he was convicted of sexually abusing 10 children.

“The board conflated the requirements that Mr. Sandusky engage in “work relating to” PSU and that he engage in that work “for” PSU”.

“There exists no statute which affirmatively requires the board to deny (Sandusky’s) withheld retirement allowances”, President Judge Dan Pellegrini wrote in the Commonwealth Court opinion. The former coach, now 71, was sentenced to 30 to 60 years in prison. Sandusky argued that, to the best of his knowledge, Penn State did not consider him an employee after 1999.

“We’re gratified to get anything we can get”, he said.

The distinction comes in the argument that while Sandusky did work to better the image of Penn State and worked with The Second Mile in relation with the university, the appeal says that none of the work Sandusky was doing at Penn State or in relation to Penn State with the Second Mile was for Penn State.

Upon his retirement, Penn State gave Sandusky a one-time lump sum payment of $168,000, complimentary season tickets to football and basketball games, a free office and access to the school’s fitness and training facilities.

The order by Judge John Cleland came on the same day that a lawsuit was filed against Kane alleging she retaliated against the team that prosecuted the former Penn State assistant coach by leaking emails and secret grand jury information that embarrassed them. This also ignores the fact that Sandusky was accused by several people of abuse going back to the 1970’s and was first investigated in 1998.

SERS has the right to appeal the decision to the State Supreme Court. The court, however, said there was no indication that the crimes occured while he was an employee.