# McKenna v. State Employees' Retirement Board

> Supreme Court of Pennsylvania · July 16, 1981 · 495 Pa. 324

URL: https://www.frixlaw.com/law-library/cases/9749128

## Case

- **Full name:** J. Frank McKENNA, Jr., an Individual, on Behalf of Himself and All Others Similarly Situated, and Frederic G. Weir, an Individual, on Behalf of Himself and All Others Similarly Situated v. the STATE EMPLOYEES’ RETIREMENT BOARD and Richard L. Witmer, in His Capacity as Executive Secretary of the State Employees’ Retirement Board and Robert E. Casey, in His Capacity as Treasurer of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, Appellants
- **Court:** Supreme Court of Pennsylvania
- **Decided:** July 16, 1981
- **Citations:** 495 Pa. 324; 433 A.2d 871; 1981 Pa. LEXIS 1180
- **Precedential status:** Published
- **Opinion:** Concurrence by Larsen
- **Judges:** O'Brien, Roberts, Nix, Larsen, Flaherty, Kaufman, Flah-Erty, Kauffman
- **Cited by:** 22 later opinions in the Frix Law Library

## Citator (automated)

- No negative treatment found by the automated citator. That is not the same as a confirmation that the case is good law; read the citing cases.
- Full citator and citing cases: https://www.frixlaw.com/law-library/cases/9749128

## Opinion text

LARSEN, Justice,
concurring.
I concur with Mr. Justice Roberts’ result; I cannot however, accept his reasoning.
Article 5, § 16(a) of the Pennsylvania Constitution provides:
Justices, judges and justices of the peace shall be compensated by the Commonwealth as provided by law. Their compensation shall not be diminished during their terms of office, unless by law applying generally to all salaried officers of the Commonwealth.
*336 Compensation includes pension benefits as provided by the pension formula in effect on the date a judge first assumes his office. No decrease of any judicial compensation can occur “unless by law applying generally to all salaried officers of the Commonwealth.” As there was no corresponding decrease to all salaried officers of the Commonwealth involved in the June 22, 1972 actions of the Commonwealth Compensation Commission and the 1974 revisions to the State Employees’ Retirement Code, any judge who assumed office before March 1, 1974 (effective date of 1974 Retirement Code) will be unaffected by these two actions and their retirement benefits will be computed in accordance with the formula mandated by the State Employees’ Retirement Code of 1959 and any subsequent increased enhancements.
FLAHERTY and KAUFFMAN, JJ., join in this concurring opinion.

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Source: Frix Law Library, https://www.frixlaw.com/law-library/cases/9749128. Public record. Not legal advice.