Suter Co. Employee Stock Plan Challenge Kicked to Arbitration

A former Suter Co. worker must use individual arbitration to challenge a 2020 transaction in which employees of the Illinois food manufacturer were allegedly forced to overpay for company stock.

The arbitration agreement in Suter’s employee stock ownership plan is valid and enforceable because it doesn’t conflict with the rights afforded to benefit plan participants under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act, Judge Iain D. Johnston said. The agreement requires that all claims be brought in an “individual capacity” and that the remedies awarded be individual in nature, but “only to the extent consistent with ERISA,” Johnston said.

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