Caterpillar Health Plan Can Limit Court Choice: 7th Cir.

Employers can write terms in their benefit plans that limit the courts in which employees can file lawsuits, a federal appeals court ruled (In re Mathias, 7th Cir., No. 16-3808, 8/10/17).

In upholding a forum selection clause in Caterpillar Inc.'s health plan, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit on Aug. 10 became the second federal circuit court to say that these clauses—which require litigation over plan benefits to be brought in the employer’s preferred court—don’t violate the Employee Retirement Income Security Act. The Sixth Circuit reached the same conclusion in a 2014 decision favoring Aegon ...