Shannon

SPENCER WILLIAMS, District Judge.

This class action challenges the procedures used by the Civil Service Commission to recover alleged prior overpayments of annuities to retired federal employees. Jurisdiction exists under 28 U.S.C. § 1331 .

Retired employees receive annuities pursuant to Subchapter III of the Civil Service Retirement Act, 5 U.S.C. §§ 8331-8348 . The amount of an individual's entitlement may change periodically, and is dependent upon numerous individual circumstances such as marital status, length of service, income during service and family size and age.

The amount of the basic, or gross, annuity is computed pursuant to rules laid out in the subchapter, see, e. g., 5 U.S.C. § 8339 . The amount of the annuity which the annuitant receives, or net annuity, is determined by adjustments to the gross entitlement as a result of such factors as optional health and life insurance deductions or payments.

From time to time, an annuitant may receive more money in the monthly check than he/she is entitled to receive. Upon discovery of the error, the Commission notifies the annuitant of the error and attempts to recover the overpaid amount by reducing future payments until…