{{Short description|American lawyer and pension rights activist (1941–2021)}} {{For|the American soccer player|Karen Ferguson-Dayes}} {{Use American English|date=January 2022}} {{Use mdy dates|date=January 2022}} {{Infobox person/Wikidata|fetchwikidata=ALL|dateformat=mdy|suppressfields=occupation}} '''Karen Ruth Ferguson''' (born '''Willner'''; February 17, 1941{{snd}}December 23, 2021) was an American workers' rights advocate. She was the founder and leader of the Pension Rights Center.<ref name="nytobit">{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2021/12/30/business/retirement/karen-ferguson-dead.html|title=Karen Ferguson, Fighter for Pension Rights, Dies at 80|first=Katharine Q.|last=Seelye|date=December 31, 2021|work=The New York Times}}</ref><ref name="wapoobit">{{cite news|last=Schudel|first=Matt|title=Karen Ferguson, founder of pension watchdog group, dies at 80|date=December 29, 2021|newspaper=The Washington Post|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/obituaries/2021/12/29/pension-rights-karen-ferguson-dies/|access-date=January 1, 2022}}</ref>
==Early life and education== Karen Ruth Willner was born on February 17, 1941, in Manhattan, New York, to Dorothy (Kunin) and Sidney Willner.<ref name="nytobit"/> She received a degree in philosophy from Bryn Mawr College in 1962 and graduated from Harvard Law School in 1965.<ref name="nytobit" />
==Career== In the early 1970s, Ferguson worked with a group of young lawyers led by consumer advocate Ralph Nader known as Nader’s Raiders.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Olen|first=Helaine|url=https://archive.org/details/poundfoolishexpo0000olen|title=Pound Foolish: Exposing the Dark Side of the Personal Finance Industry|publisher=Portfolio/Penguin|year=2012|isbn=978-1-59184-489-1|pages=82|oclc=809989018|author-link=Helaine Olen|url-access=registration}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|last1=Anderson|first1=Gary L.|url=https://archive.org/details/encyclopediaofac0002unse|title=Encyclopedia of Activism and Social Justice|last2=Herr|first2=Kathryn G.|date=April 13, 2007|publisher=SAGE Publications|isbn=978-1-4522-6565-0|pages=1002|language=en|url-access=registration}}</ref> 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.<ref name="nytobit"/>
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.<ref name="nytobit"/>
With the money from Nader, Ferguson founded the Pension Rights Center in 1976. Nader later contributed another $30,000.<ref name="nytobit"/> The center is a nonprofit consumer advocacy organization established to protect the pensions of retirees.<ref name="tasselwilkinson1992">{{Cite book|title=U.S. Aging Policy Interest Groups: Institutional Profiles|year=1992|publisher=Greenwood Publishing Group|isbn=0-313-26543-7|editor1-last=Van Tassel|editor1-first=David D.|pages=187–189|oclc=24214572|editor2-last=Meyer|editor2-first=Jimmy Elaine Wilkinson}}</ref>
The center acts as a legal clearinghouse, referring citizens with potential litigation to lawyers.<ref> {{Cite news|title=Karen Ferguson, founder of pension watchdog group, dies at 80|language=en-US|newspaper=Washington Post|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/obituaries/2021/12/29/pension-rights-karen-ferguson-dies/|access-date=January 7, 2022|issn=0190-8286}} </ref>
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.<ref name="nytobit"/>
She was known for being involved in all aspects of American pension law at the time<ref name="nytobit"/> 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.<ref name="nytobit"/><ref> {{Cite web|date=January 3, 2022|title=Pension Rights Center founder Karen Ferguson dies at 80|url=https://www.pionline.com/memoriam/pension-rights-center-founder-karen-ferguson-dies-80|access-date=January 7, 2022|website=Pensions & Investments|language=en}} </ref>
==Personal life== Karen married John H. Ferguson after meeting him in law school. Together, they had a son.<ref name="nytobit" />
She died of colon cancer on December 23, 2021, in Washington, D.C.<ref name="nytobit"/>
==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== {{reflist}}
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Ferguson, Karen}} Category:1941 births Category:2021 deaths Category:20th-century American women lawyers Category:20th-century American lawyers Category:Bryn Mawr College alumni Category:Harvard Law School alumni Category:Activists from Manhattan Category:Lawyers from Manhattan Category:American workers' rights activists Category:Writers from New York City