Man fights CN for deceased husband’s pension
The shrill of his cellphone breaks Ken Haire’s train of thought momentarily.
Sitting at the kitchen table in the Harbour Grace home he shares with Selby and Judy Rogers, Haire is handed his phone by Judy and shortly answers hello.
On the other end is a man who had seen Haire’s latest Facebook post and wanted to commend him for the work he is doing.
In the last couple of days, Haire, 71, has been inundated with messages from people reacting to a post he shared about his late spouse, Gerry Schwarz, and Haire’s fight to receive his partner’s benefits.
“It’s been a long nine years and this is not what Gerry planned,” said Haire.
Schwarz was a longtime employee of CN Rail and retired in 1991. Haire described his longtime partner as a company man who loved CN and loved trains.
Schwarz died of heart failure in January 2012. Before his death, he made sure Haire was going to be taken care of and arranged for his pension to go to Haire.
“Gerry and I talked about the pension while he was alive,” said Haire. “We talked about it and he said if anything happened to him, I’d be OK because I would get his pension.”
It turned out to not be that simple.
A few days after Schwarz died, Haire sent a letter to CN’S pension and benefits administration to inform them of his partner’s death.
Shortly after, Haire received a letter stating that his receiving of the pension would not be affected, and everything would be taken care of.
A couple of weeks later, on Jan. 31, 2012, Haire received another letter stating the pension benefits would not be paid, as he would no longer qualify for them.
While CN had updated its definition of marriage to include those of the same sex in 2002 and having a conjugal relationship of more than one year, that policy would not be made retroactive to 1991, the company said.
The policy applied only as far back as 1998, and did not include the year of Schwarz’s retirement, CN told Haire.
A lifetime rail pass that Haire received upon Schwarz’s retirement in 1991 recognizes him as a spouse, but when it comes to the pension, he isn’t recognized, and that hurts, he says.
“I went from being his spouse, and when they sent me the letter they referred to me as Gerry’s spouse … to a roommate for 33 years in less than a month,” said Haire.
That’s when he retained a lawyer and started fighting, politely at first, for the benefits he felt he should receive.
“What really hurts is that Gerry worked his ass off for them all those years, loved the company ... and for them to turn around and say our relationship meant nothing,” said Haire.
LOVED HARBOUR GRACE
Haire and Schwarz had been together for more than 33 years and had spent the nine years before Schwarz’s death in Harbour Grace.
Haire is originally from Harbour Grace and the move was an easy one. They moved from Ontario, into a home on Harvey Street that they fell in love with.
They filled the home with five Pekingese show dogs, another dog and a cat named Topsail. Schwarz periodically visited his native Germany and brought back antiques and pieces of art that hung from the walls of the home and sat on their dining room table.
“Gerry fell in love with Newfoundland. He just loved it,” said Haire.
Eventually, Haire was forced to sell the home and some of the antiques that he had shared with his husband. The Pekinese had to go back to their breeders, as they became too hard to care for.
Having to do that hurt. With each piece he sold, Haire was giving away a piece of Schwarz.
“It’s been hard,” he said.
POLICY UNDER REVIEW
In an emailed statement, a spokesperson with CN indicated a review of the process for its members who retired before 1998 is underway.
The statement said CN prides itself on its diverse workforce, and its employees include people of all genders, ages, races, abilities, religions and sexual orientations.
“We realize that some former practices and decisions made in good faith in the past need to be re-examined in light of our engagement toward diversity and inclusion,” the spokesperson stated.
SHOCKING STORY
Charlie Murphy, executive director of the St. John’sbased 2SLGBTQIA+ advocacy group Quadrangle NL, said he heard Monday morning about Haire’s fight with CN, and was shocked to see how the CN pension and benefits administration has treated Haire.
“To see this kind of disregard is a bit saddening, to say the least,” said Murphy. “It definitely shows that there is a lot of work that still needs to be done and how easily people get lost with paperwork.
“In the sense that because something wasn’t updated or didn’t reflect something that it should have, now this is the aftermath of that.”
Haire still has some pieces of Schwarz around the home he shares with the Rogers. Hanging above the kitchen table is a painting that belonged to his partner, and an antique clock sits on a nearby shelf.
Nestled near the fireplace in the living room is Moira, one of the five show dogs Haire originally had to part with.
It’s part of why he pushes on.
“This isn’t going to end and it’s not going to end until you do the right thing,” said Haire.