United States Ninth Circuit

In a class action by retired employees under section 301 of the Labor Management Relations Act and section 502 of ERISA: 1) summary judgment to the plaintiffs is affirmed, where a) the employer expressly agreed to provide 100% company-paid healthcare coverage for eligible retirees in collective bargaining agreements (CBAs), b) the employer's obligation survived the expiration of the CBAs, and c) the employer's agreed-upon obligation could not be unilaterally abrogated by the employer, regardless of the rights it reserved for itself in plan documents; and 2) the district court's rejection of the retirees' claim for punitive and extra-contractual damages is affirmed.

Appellate Information

• Decided 05/21/2012
• Published 05/21/2012

Judges

• Berzon

Court

• United States Ninth Circuit

Counsel

• For Appellant:
  
• Robert Gregory, Christopher Landau