A recent Seventh Circuit decision affirms the principle that an ERISA severance plan can reserve to the employer discretion over who is eligible for severance benefits. The case is Carlson v. Northrop Grumman Severance Plan, No. 22-1764, __ F.4th __, 2023 WL 3299703 (7th Cir. May 8, 2023).
Severance
Fifth Circuit Rules that Project Completion Bonus is Not an ERISA Severance Plan
By Seth Safra, Russell Hirschhorn & Sydney Juliano on
Whether a one-time payment of benefits constitutes an employee benefit plan under ERISA has been the source of some consternation in the courts for many years. The Fifth Circuit, in Atkins v. CB&I, LLC, recently had occasion to consider the issue and held that a bonus conditioned on completing a project was not an…
No Ongoing Administration, No ERISA Plan
By Lindsey Chopin on
Participants in a voluntary separation program filed suit for breach of fiduciary duty under ERISA seeking additional benefits after learning that greater benefits were provided to individuals who did not participate in the program but were later part of an involuntary reduction-in-force. The Third Circuit concluded that the program was not an ERISA plan because…