Linde Former Lawyer Loses Appeal Seeking Excess Benefits Boost

A former in-house lawyer for industrial gas manufacturer Linde North America on Wednesday lost his Third Circuit appeal saying he was wrongly denied about $112,000 in benefits after settling a potential whistleblower claim.

The Linde excess benefits program covering him isn’t subject to the Employee Retirement Income Security Act because it pays benefits annually throughout a worker’s employment, and for the most part doesn’t defer payments past retirement, the US Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit said in an unpublished opinion. The lawyer’s claims under ERISA were therefore properly rejected, the court said.

Mark Weller also brought breach ...