Kessler

MEMORANDUM **

Dan Kessler claims that he had ten years of continuous service, as required by ADT’s ERISA regulated pension plan, to qualify for early retirement benefits. We agree, however, with the district court’s conclusion that Kessler fell just short of the ten year mark.

As the district court recognized, calculation of Kessler’s continuous service proceeds in three stages. First, we calculate Kessler’s service prior to January 1, 1989 under the terms of the 1985 Plan. Second, we calculate Kessler’s service after January 1, 1989 under the terms of the 1989 Plan. Then we add both periods of service together to arrive at the final period of continuous service for early retirement purposes.

Kessler is entitled to only one year of continuous service under the terms of the 1985 Plan. Article 2.9(b)(i) of the Plan sets out the relevant method for calculating continuous service:

Article 2.9(c) of the 1985 Plan then sets forth the standard for figuring out when Kessler’s continuous service actually started:

The July 23, 1987 acquisition of Crime Control by EPC is the operative date for Article 2.9(c) purposes; it was the first *852 time a company for which Kessler worked was…