Anheuser-Busch to Pay Increased Pensions

Anheuser-Busch Cos. must pay enhanced pension benefits to about 60 employees who lost their jobs at a subsidiary after the company’s 2008 acquisition by InBev N.V., the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit ruled July 11 (Adams v. Anheuser-Busch Cos., 2014 BL 191810, 6th Cir., No. 13-3149).

It explained that the employees were “involuntarily terminated” within the meaning of the Anheuser-Busch plan even though they ultimately accepted employment with a corporate successor.

The relevant inquiry was whether the employees’ jobs with the Anheuser-Busch subsidiary were involuntarily terminated, not whether an individual employee experienced a job loss ...