AT&T Keeps 401(k) Forfeiture Win After Lawyer Delayed Appealing

An AT&T Services Inc. 401(k) plan participant can’t appeal a decision dismissing his lawsuit over the company’s handling of plan forfeitures because he lacked a good reason for missing the deadline to appeal.

An attorney’s “calendaring error” isn’t the type of excusable neglect that would justify extending the 30-day deadline for appealing a court ruling, Judge Otis D. Wright II said. The lawyer representing plaintiff Luis Hernandes said he was juggling an “exceptionally busy” period when he filed a notice of appeal two days late, but this explanation “falls squarely within the general bar on excusing calendar errors and attorney ...