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Furthermore, we find no support for respondent’s position
under Washington State law. The Supreme Court of Washington has
held that “a pension granted to a public employee * * * is
contractual in nature.” Jacoby v. Grays Harbor Chair &
Manufacturing Co., 468 P.2d 666, 669 (Wash. 1970); see also
Caughey v. Employment Sec. Dept., 503 P.2d 460 (Wash. 1972);
Bakenhus v. Seattle, 296 P.2d 536 (Wash. 1956). In Boeing
Airplane Co. v. Firemen’s Fund Indem. Co., 268 P.2d 654, 658
(Wash. 1954), the court stated that “Where the terms of a
contract taken as a whole are plain and unambiguous, the meaning
of the contract is to be deduced from its language alone, and
it is unnecessary for a court to resort to any aids to
construction.” Furthermore, “Where contractual language is
unambiguous courts will not read ambiguity into the contract.”
Jacoby v. Grays Harbor Chair & Manufacturing Co., supra at 670.
The CWU retirement plan and TIAA-CREF annuity are contracts.
The TIAA-CREF annuity provides that decedent could “during his
lifetime * * * receive, exercise, and enjoy every benefit,
option, right and privilege conferred” by the TIAA-CREF annuity.
One such right conferred by the TIAA-CREF annuity is the
participant’s right to elect to receive a lump-sum distribution
from his accumulated annuity funds prior to the annuity start
date. With respect to exercising the right to a lump-sum
distribution, the TIAA-CREF annuity specifically provides that
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