Eisenbacher v. City of Tacoma

Ott, J.

(concurring in the result)—We did not say in the Bakenhus case that a policeman’s contractual pension rights could be modified by subsequent legislation, provided it did not “greatly reduce the value of those pension rights.” (Italics mine.)

We did say that the legislature could modify a pension act, provided that the modification did not impair the existing pension contract or vested pension rights. Whether the modification is an impairment (weighing the detriments against the corresponding benefits) depends upon the individual’s status, and must be determined by the individual alone. What might be reasonable or equitable as applied to others may be unreasonable and inequitable as applied to him.

When modifications are made, the person who has vested pension rights may elect to accept the modification. Such election, however, cannot be forced upon him by the legislature, the pension board, or the court. A mutual modification of contractual pension rights can be effected only by the freedom of choice, basic in contract law.

I concur in the result solely because it sustains the election which the respondents made.