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Karen Ferguson - Wikipedia

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Karen Ferguson
Karen Ferguson in 2011

Born	Karen Ruth Willner February 17, 1941 Manhattan
Died	December 23, 2021 (aged 80) Washington, D.C.
Alma mater	Bryn Mawr College Harvard Law School

Karen Ruth Ferguson (born Willner; February 17, 1941 – December 23, 2021) was an American workers' rights advocate. She was the founder and leader of the Pension Rights Center.^[1]^[2]

Early life and education

Karen Ruth Willner was born on February 17, 1941, in Manhattan, New York, to Dorothy (Kunin) and Sidney Willner.^[1] She received a degree in philosophy from Bryn Mawr College in 1962 and graduated from Harvard Law School in 1965.^[1]

Career

In the early 1970s, Ferguson worked with a group of young lawyers led by consumer advocate Ralph Nader known as Nader’s Raiders.^[3]^[4] Nader would try to get his "raiders" interested in different subject areas, but he could only find Ferguson who wanted to take an interest in pensions.^[1]

Ferguson became a consultant for the United Mine Workers of America. During her time there, she learned that corporate interest groups planned to undermine the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974. She told Nader about the issue and he gave her $10,000 to fight for the rights of pensioners.^[1]

With the money from Nader, Ferguson founded the Pension Rights Center in 1976. Nader later contributed another $30,000.^[1] The center is a nonprofit consumer advocacy organization established to protect the pensions of retirees.^[5]

The center acts as a legal clearinghouse, referring citizens with potential litigation to lawyers.^[6]

Ferguson helped draft and pass the Retirement Equity Act of 1984 which strengthened the position of a pensioner's partner. Partners had a legal right to benefits after the death of the pensioner and these rights could not easily be waived away.^[1]

She was known for being involved in all aspects of American pension law at the time^[1] and this included helping to draft and pass the Butch Lewis Act. The bill, part of the American Rescue Plan Act, created a federal assistance program for failing multiemployer pension funds.^[1]^[7]

Personal life

Karen married John H. Ferguson after meeting him in law school. Together, they had a son.^[1]

She died of colon cancer on December 23, 2021, in Washington, D.C.^[1]

Books

with Kate Blackwell The Pension Book: What You Need to Know to Prepare for Retirement (Arcade Publishing, distributed by Little, Brown, 1995)
with Kate Blackwell Pensions in Crisis: Why the System is Failing America and How You Can Protect Your Future (Arcade Publishing, distributed by Little, Brown, 1995)

References

^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h ⁱ ^j ^k Seelye, Katharine Q. (December 31, 2021). "Karen Ferguson, Fighter for Pension Rights, Dies at 80". The New York Times.
^ Schudel, Matt (December 29, 2021). "Karen Ferguson, founder of pension watchdog group, dies at 80". The Washington Post. Retrieved January 1, 2022.
^ Olen, Helaine (2012). Pound Foolish: Exposing the Dark Side of the Personal Finance Industry. Portfolio/Penguin. p. 82. ISBN 978-1-59184-489-1. OCLC 809989018.
^ Anderson, Gary L.; Herr, Kathryn G. (April 13, 2007). Encyclopedia of Activism and Social Justice. SAGE Publications. p. 1002. ISBN 978-1-4522-6565-0.
^ Van Tassel, David D.; Meyer, Jimmy Elaine Wilkinson, eds. (1992). U.S. Aging Policy Interest Groups: Institutional Profiles. Greenwood Publishing Group. pp. 187–189. ISBN 0-313-26543-7. OCLC 24214572.
^ "Karen Ferguson, founder of pension watchdog group, dies at 80". Washington Post. ISSN 0190-8286. Retrieved January 7, 2022.
^ "Pension Rights Center founder Karen Ferguson dies at 80". Pensions & Investments. January 3, 2022. Retrieved January 7, 2022.

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