Retired Boilermakers Win Suit Challenging Pension Terminations

A certified class of retired boilermakers prevailed on most of their claims in a lawsuit saying their pension benefits were wrongly terminated when they took unrelated jobs after retiring from boilermaker work.

Judge Toby Crouse awarded the boilermakers summary judgment on most aspects of their nine-count lawsuit, including their claim for wrongly denied benefits under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act. The plain language of the Boilermaker-Blacksmith National Pension Trust prevents workers from receiving early retirement benefits if they perform boilermaker work for an employer covered by a relevant collective bargaining agreement, but it doesn’t revoke benefits from workers who ...