Chang v. Philips Bryant Park LLC.

**What Happened** A King County employee challenged the county's decision to reduce the mandatory retirement age from 70 to 65. The worker argued this change violated their employment contract and pension rights, since they were originally hired when the retirement age was 70 under the Washington Public Employees' Retirement System (PERS). **What the Court Decided** The court sided with the employee, ruling that King County could not retroactively change the retirement age for workers who were already employed. The judge found that the county violated the worker's established pension rights by reducing the retirement age from what was promised when they were first hired. King County was ordered to honor the original retirement age of 70. **Why This Matters for Workers** This ruling protects workers from having their retirement benefits changed after they've already been hired. It establishes that employers cannot simply reduce retirement ages or alter pension terms that were part of the original employment agreement. Public employees can rely on the retirement benefits and ages that were in place when they started their jobs, providing important job security and retirement planning certainty.