City of Miami Firefighters' and Police Officers' Retirement Trust & Plan v. Castro
City of Miami pension plan participants sued the retirement boards and trustees for breach of contract, alleging that staff gave them incorrect advice about a pending 'financial urgency' ordinance, causing them to retire or enter DROP prematurely. The trial court held the pension ordinances created express contracts and that sovereign immunity was therefore waived. The Third DCA reversed, holding that the ordinances' general duty to 'observe and evaluate' a pension administrator's performance is not an express contractual duty to guarantee the accuracy of advice about pending legislation, so the pension defendants remain sovereignly immune.
Key facts
- City of Miami pension plan participants sued retirement boards and trustees, alleging staff provided incorrect advice about a pending 'financial urgency' ordinance that caused plaintiffs to retire or enter DROP prematurely.
- Trial court ruled the pension ordinances created express contracts and that sovereign immunity was waived; Third DCA reversed, finding that general ordinance language requiring boards to 'observe and evaluate' a pension administrator's performance does not constitute an express contractual duty to guarantee the accuracy of advice about pending legislation.
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Why it matters
This is a useful roadmap for governmental defendants: it confirms that the contractual waiver of sovereign immunity is narrow and requires locating the precise express duty alleged to be breached, not merely a general… — full analysis with a trial
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