Steven Mitby’s victory in the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals saved his clients about $5 million in pension benefits that a company was trying to take back. But in a broader context, the win also means that employers can’t use a federal law to poke around in their employees’ private lives, he says.
The background in July 18′s Glenn Brown, et al. v. Continental Airlines Inc. is as follows: Continental Pilots Retirement Plan Administrative Committee and Continental Airlines Inc. (referred to collectively as Continental) sued nine pilots and their spouses, asserting claims for equitable relief under 29 U.S.C. §1132(a)(3), a provision of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA).
