Five Retired Umpires, Including Joe West, Sue MLB Over $2M in Pension Benefits

Five retired Major League Baseball umpires, including record-holder Joe West, have sued the game's umpire retirement plan, claiming they are owed more than $2 million in benefits they say were calculated incorrectly. West, Tom Hallion, Gerry Davis, Larry Vanover and Jerry Layne filed the lawsuit on September 29 in federal court in New York. They allege their benefits were miscalculated and are seeking more money under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974. Their lawyer, Paul B. Holmes, said on Thursday that the amount owed to the five is in excess of $2 million. West said that when he raised the issue with the retirement committee, he was offered a relatively small sum, and that MLB senior vice president Steven Gonzalez told him: "If you don't like the number, sue us." West's reply: "Does Steve Gonzalez not know my history with dealing with lawsuits?" West, who worked a record 5,460 regular-season games between 1976 and 2021, was awarded $500,000 in damages in 2021 in a defamation suit against former All-Star catcher Paul LoDuca. West and Davis retired after the 2021 season, Hallion after 2022, and Layne and Vanover at the end of 2024. The suit targets the American and National Leagues' Retirement Income Plan for Umpires and its committee; the umpires' union is not a party. "The union wanted to stay out of it," Holmes said. MLB declined to comment. A pretrial conference is set for December 11 before U.S. District Judge Ronnie Abrams.