Divorce paid off handsomely for pilots

A federal judge tossed out a Continental Airlines lawsuit accusing nine pilots of getting sham divorces so their ex-spouses could collect the pilots’ retirement benefits while they kept flying.

U.S. District Judge Gray Miller said he can’t condone the pilots’ alleged actions. But he ruled Monday that the law doesn’t allow Continental’s pension administrator to consider the employee’s motivation for getting divorced in deciding whether to distribute benefits.

Miller granted the pilots’ motion to dismiss.

There was no immediate comment from Houston-based Continental, which says it paid out between $10 million and $11 million in suspicious pension distributions.

The airline says some of the pilots concealed the divorces from children and friends, then remarried their spouses after getting the money.

Associated Press