In an opinion released yesterday, the Supreme Court reaffirmed that collective bargaining agreements (CBAs) must be interpreted according to “ordinary principles of contract law.” CNH Industrial N.V. v. Reese, No. 17-515, 2018 WL 942419 (U.S. Feb. 20, 2018).  In so ruling, the Court again rejected the Sixth Circuit’s inference from silence that CBAs vested retiree benefits for life.

Three years ago, the Supreme Court decided M&G Polymers USA, LLC v. Tackett, 135 S. Ct. 926 (2015).  In that decision, the Court unanimously held that CBAs must be interpreted according to ordinary principles of contract law, and the Court rejected the Sixth Circuit’s so-called “Yard-Man” inference that if a CBA did not specify that retiree medical and other welfare benefits had a limited duration, the benefits were presumed to be vested.  The Court held that the Yard-Man inference was inconsistent with the application of ordinary principles of contract law and that the inference improperly placed a thumb on the scale in favor of vested retiree rights.

The present dispute arose between retirees and their former employer about whether an expired CBA created a vested right to lifetime health care benefits. In 1998, the Company agreed in a CBA to provide health care benefits to certain “[e]mployees who retire under the . . . Pension Plan.”  Under the CBA, “[a]ll other coverages,” such as life insurance, ceased upon retirement.  The health care benefit was “made part of” the CBA and “r[an] concurrently” with it.  The CBA contained a general durational clause stating that it would terminate in May 2004.  The CBA also stated that it “dispose[d] of any and all bargaining issues, whether or not presented during negotiations.”

After years of litigation, both before and after the Tackett decision, the Sixth Circuit concluded that the CBA’s general durational clause did not apply to retiree health care benefits.  In a split decision, the Sixth Circuit inferred from the CBA’s specific termination provisions for “other coverages” that the parties must have intended to vest health care benefits for life.

The Supreme Court unanimously reversed the Sixth Circuit, holding that the Sixth Circuit’s inference of vesting could not be squared with Tackett because it did not comply with Tackett’s direction to apply ordinary contract principles.  According to the Supreme Court, the CBA’s general durational clause applies to all benefits, unless the CBA provides otherwise.  Here, no provision specified that the health care benefits were subject to a different durational clause. The only reasonable interpretation of the CBA was thus that the health care benefits expired when the CBA expired.

The Supreme Court’s decision reaffirms that a court interpreting a CBA should not infer from silence that a retiree welfare benefit is vested for life. We expect that litigation over reductions to retiree medical benefits will continue (both for union employees and non-union employees), particularly in light of skyrocketing health care costs; but the Court’s decision affirms that retirees will bear the burden of demonstrating an intent to vest based on affirmative documentary evidence.

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Photo of Seth Safra Seth Safra

Seth J. Safra is chair of Proskauer’s Employee Benefits & Executive Compensation Group. Described by clients as “extremely knowledgeable, practical, and strategic,” Seth advises clients on compensation and benefit programs.

Seth’s experience covers a broad range of retirement plan designs, from traditional defined…

Seth J. Safra is chair of Proskauer’s Employee Benefits & Executive Compensation Group. Described by clients as “extremely knowledgeable, practical, and strategic,” Seth advises clients on compensation and benefit programs.

Seth’s experience covers a broad range of retirement plan designs, from traditional defined benefit to cash balance and floor-offset arrangements, ESOPs and 401(k) plans—often coordinating qualified and non-qualified arrangements. He also advises tax-exempt and governmental employers on 403(b) and 457 arrangements, as well as innovative new plan designs; and he advises on ERISA compliance for investments.

On the health and welfare side, Seth helps employers provide benefits that are cost-effective and competitive. He advises on plan design, including consumer-driven health plans with HSAs, retiree medical, fringe benefits, and severance programs, ERISA preemption, and tax and other compliance issues, such as nondiscrimination and cafeteria plan rules.

Seth also advises for-profit and non-profit employers, compensation committees, and boards on executive employment, deferred compensation, change in control, and equity and other incentive arrangements. In addition, he advises on compensation and benefits in corporate transactions.

Seth represents clients before the Department of Labor, IRS and other government agencies.

Seth has been recognized by Chambers USA, The Legal 500, Best Lawyers, Law360, Human Resource Executive, Lawdragon and Super Lawyers.

Photo of Russell Hirschhorn Russell Hirschhorn

“Russell has strong subject matter expertise.”

“Russ is extremely responsive and practical. He listens to the client perspective and is hands on and engaged, while also delegating work as appropriate.” 

-Chambers USA

Russell L. Hirschhorn is co-head of Proskauer’s premier ERISA Litigation Group…

“Russell has strong subject matter expertise.”

“Russ is extremely responsive and practical. He listens to the client perspective and is hands on and engaged, while also delegating work as appropriate.” 

-Chambers USA

Russell L. Hirschhorn is co-head of Proskauer’s premier ERISA Litigation Group, which is a significant component of the firm’s ERISA Practice Center and globally renowned Labor and Employment Law Department.  Russell’s practice focuses on employee benefits issues arising under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA), including class action and complex litigation, U.S. Department of Labor and Internal Revenue Service investigations, and counseling clients on best practices to avoid litigation.

Russell has more than two decades of experience representing plan sponsors, fiduciaries, trustees, and service providers across the country.  His work on behalf of clients has included all types of plans, including 401(k) plans, 403(b) plans, defined benefit plans, employee stock ownership plans, executive compensation plans, health and welfare plans, multiemployer plans, multiple employer plans, and severance plans.  And, it has included the full gamut of claims arising under ERISA, including excessive investment and plan administration fees and investment underperformance claims; cash balance plan litigation; claims for benefits; company stock fund cases; claims for delinquent contributions; ERISA § 510 claims; ERISA statutory claims; ESOP litigation; executive compensation claims; independent contractor claims; independent fiduciary representations; multiemployer fund litigation; plan service provider claims; recoupment of plan overpayments; retiree benefits claims; severance plan claims; and withdrawal liability claims.

Deeply dedicated to pro bono work, Russell has been recognized on several occasions for his commitment to pro bono work including by President George W. Bush in receiving the U.S. President’s Volunteer Service Award.  His pro bono work has included serving as lead litigation counsel in several impact litigations: on behalf of social security recipients whose benefits were unlawfully suspended based on an outstanding warrant, deaf and hard of hearing prisoners in Louisiana prisons seeking disability accommodations, and Swartzentruber Amish in upstate New York to obtain religious exemptions from certain building code requirements. Russell also was a principal drafter of several amicus briefs for the Innocence Project, a legal non-profit committed to exonerating wrongly convicted people.

Photo of Benjamin Flaxenburg Benjamin Flaxenburg

Benjamin O. Flaxenburg is an associate in the Labor & Employment Law Department and a member of the Employee Benefits & Executive Compensation Group.

Prior to joining Proskauer, Ben served as an extern for the United States Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District…

Benjamin O. Flaxenburg is an associate in the Labor & Employment Law Department and a member of the Employee Benefits & Executive Compensation Group.

Prior to joining Proskauer, Ben served as an extern for the United States Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Louisiana and as a judicial extern to the Honorable Nannette Jolivette Brown at the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana. Ben was also a managing editor of the Tulane Maritime Law Journal, a member of the Tulane’s Moot Court Board and a member of Tulane’s Alternative Dispute Resolution Moot Court Team.