Lockheed Martin Correctly Denied Claim For Survivor Benefits, Ninth Circuit Affirms

The beneficiaries of a deceased Lockheed Martin Corp. employee failed to persuade the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit May 24 that they were entitled to survivor benefits under the company’s pension plan (Nalbandian v. Lockheed Martin Corp., 9th Cir., 11-17242, 5/24/13).

The court affirmed a 2011 ruling of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California, which held that Lockheed reasonably interpreted the terms of its plan to conclude that the beneficiaries were ineligible for benefits.

The short, unpublished opinion was written by Judges M. Margaret McKeown and Paul J. Watford and Senior ...