Pension & Benefits Reporter Index-Summary

RACKETEER INFLUENCED AND CORRUPT ORGANIZATIONS (RICO) ACT

– Disability benefits, UNUM accused of mailing falsified video surveillance, RICO claim dismissed (M.D. Pa.), 676
– Out-of-network payment practices, AMA denied injunction against United Healthcare (S.D.N.Y.), 2115

RAILROAD WORKERS

– Collective bargaining

– – Amtrak pact ratified, In Brief, 855
– – Freight carriers, workers approve pact, 1397

– Disability benefits

– – Long Island RR deals with alleged benefit abuse, 2277; board to address, 2386; oversight plan approved, 2435
– – N.Y. governor seeks probe of Railroad Retirement Board, 2214
– – Unions defend disability system, 2436

RAILWAY LABOR ACT

– Northwest Airlines, fiduciary breach claim by workers subject to mandatory arbitration (8th Cir.), 472

REMEDIES

– Back pay denied to worker who claim they were mislead into retiring (N.D.N.Y.), 2009
– DuPont estopped from denying pension credits to former worker (3rd Cir.), 1868
– ERISA, enhanced retirement benefits denied despite employer's misrepresentation (W.D. Mich.), 253
– Exhaustion

See EXHAUSTION OF REMEDIES

– Increased pension credits denied (N.D. Ohio), 2319
– Jury trials in fiduciary breach claims, interlocutory appeal certified (N.D. Ga.), 1676
– Overpayment due to administrative error, participant must repay (W.D. Pa.), 248
– Personal injury funds may be used to reimburse health plan sponsor after auto accident (D. Neb.), 2459
– Profit-sharing plan, employee's claim over benefits denial improperly dismissed (11th Cir.), 2251
– Quaker Oats workers denied additional pension and change-in-control benefits (U.S., rev den), 2356
– Restitution claim not equitable relief (S.D.N.Y.), 1621
– Special needs trust set up for beneficiary, employer plan may seek reimbursement (11th Cir.), 205
– Spouses, falsely claimed woman as wife, administrator may seek reimbursement of benefits (W.D. Wash.), 248
– Vioxx product liability, health plans request to block settlement denied (E.D. La.), 1964
– Wrongful death recovery, medical plan may seek lien and constructive trust (D.N.J.), 747
– Xerox worker to get lump sum representing difference in benefits after rehiring (2nd Cir.), 1768

RETIREE HEALTH INSURANCE

– Alcatel retirees denied preliminary injunction over benefits limitations (5th Cir.), 1563
– Binding firms to benefits, House panel considers, 2206
– Boeing sued over benefit modifications (N.D. Ill.), 2307
– BorgWarner accused of improperly reducing benefits (S.D. Ind.), 809
– Case Corp. retirees can seek out-of-pocket expenses after coverage cut, no emotional distress damages (E.D. Mich.), 369
– Caterpillar accused of illegally reducing benefits (M.D. Tenn.), 1084
– Contribution rate changes breached collective bargaining pact (D.N.J.), 1966
– Cooper Tire accused of breaching pension and insurance agreements (N.D. Ohio), 2455
– CRA violated consent decree by requiring retiree payments (11th Cir.), 2306
– Deere & Co. cuts challenged (S.D. Iowa), 2117
– ERISA

– – Cooper Tire improperly put caps on vested benefits (N.D. Ohio), 1147
– – Lucent copayment and deductible hike may violate ERISA (D.N.J.), 1408
– – Unused sick leave used to pay health premiums, benefit modification must be in writing (7th Cir.), 2452

– Exelon electrical workers union can arbitrate without consent of all retirees (7th Cir.), 2059; correction, 2122
– Frontier Communications electrical workers union has standing to arbitrate benefit changes (S.D.N.Y.), 1088
– Goodrich retirees have vested benefits (6th Cir.), 674; rehearing sought, 916
– Goodyear, $1B VEBA to funds retiree health benefits (N.D. Ohio), 1962
– Hourly worker switching to salaried status not eligible for benefits (N.D. Ill.), 1094
– Imo Industries to pay lifetime benefits under settlement (D. Mass.), 866
– Ky. Wesleyan College cannot end benefits for retirees who entered early retirement pacts promising no change in benefits (W.D. Ky.), 199
– Medicare eligibility and retiree health benefits, EEOC issues final rule on ADEA, 26
– Morton Salt retirees benefits vested (N.D. Ohio), 2302
– Newell Operating seeks declaratory judgment on retiree benefits, no jurisdiction (7th Cir.), 1612
– N.Y. moratorium on reducing benefits, bill vetoed, 2167
– Outlook 2008, 324
– Paper firm retirees without vested benefits lack standing to challenge termination of health plan (9th Cir.), 2237
– Past payments by employer place no obligation on firm (D. Minn.), 317
– Port of Seattle must provide benefits to retirees who were eligible when longshoremen's collective bargaining agreement ended (Wash.), 2401
– Raytheon modifications to retiree health benefits challenged (D. Ariz.), 134; must restore vested benefits (D. Ariz.), 1918
– Southern Nuclear may not modify future retirees benefits without allowing union to bargain (D.C. Cir.), 1090
– State and local employees

See STATE AND LOCAL GOVERNMENT PLANS

– Unisys retiree health benefits dispute, attorneys fees awarded (E.D. Pa.), 1610
– VEBAs

See VOLUNTARY EMPLOYEES' BENEFICIARY ASSOCIATIONS (VEBAs)

– Voluntary and mandatory employer benefits spending reported for 2006, 182
– Whirlpool seeks to modify benefits of former Maytag workers (S.D. Iowa), 1838

RETIREMENT POLICY AND PLANNING

– Automatic enrollment

– – Midyear automatic enrollment, IRS asks practitioners how to implement, 1186
– – Qualified automatic enrollment, IRS proposes safe harbor, CPA group seeks clarification, 338; hearings planned, 710; hearing announced, In Brief, 972

– Challenges to pension system reviewed by IRS official, 1065
– Confidence declines among workers, 839
– Flexible schedules preferred by older workers, In Brief, 663
– Future benefit accrual, In Brief, 24; rate reductions, IRS proposes notice rule, 645; IRS proposes good faith standard, 1533; reduced accrual notice, clarifications reviewed at hearing, 1638
– Gender gap closing as plan participation increases, 2335
– Interim amendments, IRS needs to speed up, 221
– IRAs

See INDIVIDUAL RETIREMENT ACCOUNTS (IRAs)

– Less physically-demanding jobs lead to later retirements, 846
– Living standards, middle-income retirees at risk, 1702
– McDermott (D-Wash) resolution urges rebuilding social safety net, 2157
– Most workers at large firms unprepared, 1643
– New technologies, In Brief, 1756
– Outliving assets is major concern, 1899
– Phased retirement

– – ERISA panel urged to support phased retirement, 2086
– – Few plans implement, 1199
– – Strategies surveyed, 1640
– – Treasury yet to address, 1697

– Primary reason that some firms do not offer retirement benefits is many workers do not want them, 2270
– Retirement Systems Modernization, OPM issues final rule, 73
– Savings

– – Economy makes savings lower priority, 559
– – Limits on IRS ability to address outlined, 1197
– – Low-income persons, removal of assets tests urged, 2152
– – Sensible savings policy urged, 1650
– – Tax credit, fact sheet updated by CRS, In Brief, 25
– – Wachovia and Consumer Federation of America to study savings patterns and draft program to encourage, 21

RHODE ISLAND

– State workers get premium hike, 1865; mediation ordered (R.I.), 2069
– Warwick not required to pay all medical expenses for disabled police and firefighters (D.R.I.), 322

RICO

See RACKETEER INFLUENCED AND CORRUPT ORGANIZATIONS (RICO) ACT

ROTH IRAs

– Conversions from non-Roth IRAs, IRS issues rules, 1794

RUSSIA

– Unified Social Tax, 2280