Detroit pension trustee loses seat, city job: report

DETROIT (Reuters) - A trustee for one of Detroit's two pension funds lost his city job and position on the retirement board months after he was criticized for attending a conference in Hawaii, the Detroit News reported on Friday. The trustee, Cedric Cook, was a senior data processing program analyst for the city and chairman of Detroit's General Retirement System. The newspaper said Cook "has been off work for more than a month on an unpaid suspension," but it did not specify when he lost his job. Cook went to the conference in May with three other pension trustees. The trip, which cost $22,000, was paid for by the pension funds. City officials, including Detroit Emergency Manager Kevyn Orr, criticized the decision to attend the conference, which came as the city was considering bankruptcy protection. Detroit eventually filed the largest municipal bankruptcy in U.S. history on July 18. A spokesman for the city and lawyers for the two pension funds did not immediately respond to requests for comment. (Reporting by Deepa Seetharaman)