Line Construction Benefit Fund v. Allied Electrical Contractors, Inc.
Jan 08, 2010OUTCOME: 7th Circuit upheld summary judgment for LINECO
This case concerned two issues. First, whether ERISA grants a multiemployer benefit plan a right to sue for delinquent contributions. And second, whether ERISA requires an employer to contribute to a ... benefit plan when the CBA required a signed letter of assent. ERISA only grants a right to sue for delinquent contributions to three parties: plan participants, beneficiaries, and fiduciaries. Allied argued that because LINECO is not one of these three, it could not sue on its own to enforce the plan. LINECO maintained that Congress did not intend to restrict the definition so narrowly, and that, in the alternative, it was a fiduciary of itself. The 7th Circuit agreed and found that the Plan could maintain a right of action for delinquent contributions. The 7th Circuit also held that an employer's conduct is enough to manifest his assent to be bound under a Plan, regardless of whether the Plan required a signed letter of assent.
