Janet K. Steiger, on Behalf of Herself and All Others Similarly Situated v. United States Railroad Retirement Board

Janet Steiger petitions for review of the Railroad Retirement Board’s (the Board) computation of her railroad spousal annuity. Because of the enactment of section 1119(d)(2) of the Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1981 (Omnibus Act), Pub.L. No. 97-35, 1981 U.S.Code Cong. & Ad. News (95 Stat.) 633 (codified at 45 U.S.C. § 231c(e)(5) (1982)), during the pendency of her application for benefits, the Board reduced Steiger’s annuity by the amount of her social security benefits. In the absence of this enactment, the Board would have awarded dual benefits under 45 U.S.C. § 231c(e)(l) (1982). Steiger contends that section 231c(e)(5) contravenes the equal protection component of the Due Process Clause of the Fifth Amendment.

I.

STATUTORY BACKGROUND

Three groups of individuals are affected by the statutes at issue in this case. The first group comprises railroad employees who have also worked in nonrailroad jobs and thus are entitled to both railroad retirement benefits and social security benefits. Most, but not all, of these individuals are men. In the second group are those railroad employees whose entitlement to social security benefits stems from their spouses’ work in…