Pension Action

The Pension Rights Center follows pension cases that affect the rights of retirement plan participants. We have summarized recent important decisions below. Additionally, the Center occasionally submits friend-of-the-court briefs in support of important pension cases.

U.S. Supreme Court Determines when a Conflict of Interest Exists and How Courts Should Deal with Such Conflicts
In Metropolitan Life Ins. v. Glenn, the U.S. Supreme Court established that a conflict of interest exists when a benefit plan that decides whether someone is entitled to benefits is also responsible for paying those benefits. The court also gave guidance on how lower courts should weigh the existence of a conflict of interest in their rulings. Read more.

U.S. Supreme Court Decides Plan Participants Can Sue to Recover Individual Losses
The U.S. Supreme Court has decided LaRue v. DeWolff, Boberg & Associates, examining whether a participant can sue a pension plan to recover loses that did not affect all or a large number of other plan participants. Read more.

Lump Sums Must Include Cost-of-Living Adjustments
In Williams v. Rohm and Haas Pension Plan, the U.S. Supreme Court had let a decision by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit stand, ruling that cost-of-living adjustments must be calculated in both annuities and lump-sum distributions. Read more.

QDRO Ruled Invalid if Not Filed With the Plan
In Kennedy v. Plan Administrator for DuPont Savings and Investment Plan, the court ruled that a qualified domestic relations order must be filed and validated by a plan in order to be considered valid. Read more.

Former Employees Can Sue Retirement Plans
In Harzewski v. Guidant Corporation, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 7th Circuit ruled that former employees and retirees have a legal right to sue their plans if they believe plan administrators did not act in the best interest of the plan and its participants. Read more.

Pensions Can Be Sought After to Pay Restitution
In U.S. v Novak, the court ruled that pension funds can be used to pay restitution in criminal cases, according to a ruling by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit. Read more.

Early Retirement
In Swede v. Rochester Carpenters Pension Fund, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit in New York ruled that retirees who took advantage of the early retirement option must receive benefits for the time that their pension benefit payments were improperly suspended. Read more.

Rights of an Ex-Spouse
Marker v. Northrop Grumman Space & Missions Systems Corporation Salaried Pension Plan, the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois ruled that an ex-spouse who files a qualified domestic relations order with the plan following the death of her ex-husband is entitled to receive benefits. Read more.

Cash Balance Plans
In Cooper v. IBM Personal Pension Plan, the U.S. Supreme Court decided not to hear an appeal of the U.S. Court of Appeals' ruling that IBM's cash balance plan did not discriminate against older workers. Read more.

Litigation Against Plan Officials
Courts have come out with different rulings on whether individuals can sue 401(k) plan officials who misled them about the value of company stock. Read more about these cases.

Credit for Breaks in Service
Courts have also differed on whether pension plans must give pension credit to individuals who retired recently but had "breaks in service" before the federal private pension law went into effect in 1974. Read about these cases.