American Family Insurance Group amended its pension plans in 1997 to allow participants to elect cash distributions (with values actuarially equal to the participants’ vested pensions) when they leave its employ. As amended, the plans give workers 90 days to choose whether to take lump sums immediately or annuities when they reach retirement age. Plaintiffs exercised the lump-sum option. Now the... More...   $0 (09-02-2008 - WI)

APA Transport Corporation (“APA Transportâ€�) closed its facilities and terminated all of its employees on February 20, 2002. It had informed its employees of the impending shutdown and layoffs only a week earlier. Following the shutdown, a number of non-union and union employees, along with certain Employee Retirement Income Security Act (“ERISAâ€�) funds, filed suit against APA Transport and... More...   $0 (09-06-2008 - )

Alan S. Noonan was fired from his job as a salesman at Staples, Inc. for allegedly padding expense reports. A Staples executive then sent a mass e-mail to about 1,500 employees informing them that Noonan had been fired for violating the company's travel and expense policy. Staples also denied Noonan his severance benefits and refused to allow him to exercise his stock options, claiming that, under... More...   $0 (08-21-2008 - MA)

Jerilyn Lucas claims that her former employer, PyraMax Bank, demoted and ultimately fired her because of her gender in violation of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, see 42 U.S.C. § 2000e to 2000e- 17. Lucas also contends that PyraMax retaliated against her in violation of Title VII, see id. § 2000e-3(a), and that it took adverse employment actions against her because she exercised her ... More...   $0 (08-22-2008 - )

This is an employment discrimination action brought by plaintiff-appellant Alexei Kouvchinov against his quondam employer, Parametric Technology Corporation (PTC), and Lisa Wales, a PTC functionary. The plaintiff's overarching claim is that the defendants cashiered him in retaliation for his exercise of the right to receive short-term disability (STD) benefits under an employee benefit plan, there... More...   $0 (08-08-2008 - MA)

Respondent Cingular Wireless, LLC (Cingular) advertises a cellular phone for sale at half the retail price if the purchaser also enrolls in a calling plan package. The California Code of Regulations requires that the sales tax must be computed against the non-sale price of the product. The regulation permits, but does not require, that the charge be passed on to the customer. Cingular does so with... More...   $0 (08-19-2008 - CA)

Appellants, 119 recently retired employees of DaimlerChrysler Corporation (Chrysler) plants in St. Louis, brought suit against Chrysler and their local and international unions (the Unions) after Chrysler offered an early retirement opportunity through an Incentive Program for Retirement (IPR) that failed to apply retroactively to recent retirees. Appellants alleged that past practices created an ... More...   $0 (07-17-2008 - MO)

Defendants Northeast Vehicle Services, LLC, East Brookfield & Spencer Railroad, LLC ("EB&SR"); Holston Land Company, Inc., CSX Real Property, Inc., Steven Pugliese, and George Bell all play various roles in the ownership and operation of an automobile distribution facility located in the towns of East Brookfield and Spencer, Massachusetts. Footnote Plaintiffs, Leo and Sara Fayard, own a seventeen-... More...   $0 (07-22-2008 - MA)

This case requires us to decide whether former employees who have received lump-sum distributions of the entire balance in their employer's defined contribution plan may sue on behalf of the plan to recover for alleged fiduciary breaches that diminished the value of their accounts. The question turns on whether they are "participants" within the relevant statutory definition in the Employee Retire... More...   $0 (07-22-2008 - MA)

Ronald Jackson (Jackson) brings this ERISA1 action against Prudential Insurance Company (Prudential), alleging his claim for long term disability (LTD) benefits was wrongly denied. The district court2 affirmed Prudential's claim denial, finding (1) Prudential had broad discretion to define the terms of the LTD insurance policy, and (2) Prudential's determination Jackson was not totally disable... More...   $0 (06-23-2008 - AR)

Dr. Gandhi Gutta, a laparoscopic surgeon, suffers from a variety of physical ailments. In August of 2000, he came to the conclusion that he could no longer work in his chosen profession and filed for disability benefits under a group policy with Standard Select Trust Insurance Plans (Standard). Gutta received disability benefits from Standard for two years. At that point, in order to be eli... More...   $0 (06-26-2008 - IL)

Firestone Tire & Rubber Co. v. Bruch, 489 U.S. 101 (1989), establishes the principle that courts review de novo an ERISA1 benefits determination unless the plan confers discretionary authority on its administrator. In this case we again confront the question of exactly what language is sufficient under Firestone to confer discretion on a plan administrator - and thus trigger an abuse-of-dis... More...   $0 (06-24-2008 - VA)

Dennis West (West) filed this action claiming he was entitled to full pension benefits after Local 710 International Brotherhood of Teamsters Pension Plan (Local 710) determined West was not entitled to a full pension. Considering the parties' cross-motions for summary judgment, the district court granted summary judgment in favor of Local 710, but denied Local 710's request for attorney fees.... More...   $0 (06-16-2008 - IA)

Firestone Tire & Rubber Co. v. Bruch, 489 U.S. 101 (1989), establishes the principle that courts review de novo an ERISA1 benefits determination unless the plan confers discretionary authority on its administrator. In this case we again confront the question of exactly what language is sufficient under Firestone to confer discretion on a plan administrator and thus trigger an abuse-of-discre... More...   $0 (06-13-2008 - VA)

Guardian Pipeline needed easements to build a natural-gas pipeline that the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission authorized it to construct. What it could not acquire by negotiation, it proposed to take by condemnation under 15 U.S.C. §717f(h). This action covers more than a hundred parcels of land in northeastern Illinois. The district court appointed a commission to receive evidence and p... More...   $0 (05-13-2008 - IL)

William and Debra Trujillo brought this action against PacifiCorp claiming their employment with PacifiCorp was terminated in violation of the association clause of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), 42 U.S.C. §12112(b)(4), and the Employee Retirement Security Act of 1974 (ERISA), 29 U.S.C. §§ 1001 et seq. The district court granted PacifiCorp summary judgment on both claims. We rever... More...   $0 (05-12-2008 - WY)

The defendants, Bayer Corporation Long Term Disability Plan and Bayer Corporation (collectively, Bayer) appeal from a district court ruling that granted long-term–disability (LTD) benefits and partial-disability benefits to the plaintiff, Terry Smith, a former Bayer employee, pursuant to the provisions of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA), 29 U.S.C. §§ 1001–1461. The defenda... More...   $0 (04-24-2008 - TN)

Brad Kirschbaum ("Kirschbaum"), an employee of Reliant Energy, Inc. ("REI") and a participant in the Reliant Energy Savings Plan ("Plan"), brought this ERISA class action against REI and the REI Benefits Committee (collectively, "REI defendants") representing current and former plan participants on whose behalf the Plan purchased or held shares of the Reliant Energy Common Stock Fund from Au... More...   $0 (04-26-2008 - TX)

John Livick appeals a grant of summary judgment to his former employer, the Gillette Company, and the Gillette Company Retirement Plan (collectively "Gillette") in a dispute over the amount of his pension benefits under Gillette's employee benefit plan ("Plan"). Livick sued Gillette under the civil enforcement provisions of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act ("ERISA"), 29 U.S.C. §§ 1001-1... More...   $0 (04-22-2008 - MA)

This appeal raises an issue of first impression in this Circuit under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974: when medical reports relied on by a plan administrator during the review of a denial of benefits must be produced to the claimant for her to receive a "full and fair review." 29 U.S.C. § 1133(2). Priscilla Glazer appeals a summary judgment against her complaint about the ... More...   $0 (04-21-2008 - FL)

HOI's membe... More...   $0 (04-19-2008 - FL)

This appeal presents yet another set of facts upon which we must determine whether the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA), 88 Stat. 829, as amended, 29 U.S.C. § 1001 et seq., preempts certain state law claims. More specifically, the sole issue we decide in this appeal is whether ERISA preempts a state law breach of contract claim and an alternatively pled state law unjust... More...   $0 (04-14-2008 - MD)

The facts, viewed in the light most favorable to Fitzgerald, Dush v. Appleton Elec.... More...   $0 (04-09-2008 - AR)

This is an appeal from an order dismissing retirees' claims for breach of fiduciary duty against their former employer and its employment benefit plan. Plaintiff retirees allege they were misled into prematurely accepting early retirement. The district court dismissed the claims as time-barred. On appeal, plaintiffs contend the district court failed to construe the complaint liberally in their... More...   $0 (04-08-2008 - OH)

This is an appeal from an order dismissing retirees' claims for breach of fiduciary duty against their former employer and its employment benefit plan. Plaintiff retirees allege they were misled into prematurely accepting early retirement. The district court dismissed the claims as time-barred. On appeal, plaintiffs contend the district court failed to construe the complaint liberally in their... More...   $0 (04-07-2008 - OH)