Some $51 million was distributed Wednesday to 965 retirees of AK Steel Corp. in Middletown near Cincinnati thanks to a ruling from a federal judge following an eight-year court fight by Lorain law firm Gary, Naegele and Theado, said attorney Robert D. Gary.

A federal judge determined that AK Steel’s method of calculating lump sum distributions violated federal pension law, but even after the case was won, revisions in the Pension Protection Act of 2006 threatened the verdict, Gary said.

He credited intervention of U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown, D-Avon, and Gov. Ted Strickland, then both congressmen, in preventing the legislature from “handing a victory to AK Steel that they couldn’t win in the courts.”

The U.S. Supreme Court tabled or reviewed the case a number of times before deciding not to hear it after the U.S. solicitor general recommended it not take it on appeal, according to Gary.

Gary said his firm is receiving payment for hours worked - and not a percentage share of the $51 million in payments - so “we’re not getting a lot.”

On the other hand, the court victory sets a precedent, “so it affects a lot of pensioners,” he said.

Gary, whose firm has handled a number of large class-action suits over the years, said he recently filed a lawsuit in Florida regarding drywall from China that has high levels of sulfur dioxide, which lets off gases when it reacts to high levels of humidity.

Gary was interviewed for a story on the CBS Evening News and contends American-made drywall has some of the same problems.

Contact Cindy Leise at 329-7245 or cleise@chroniclet.com.

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