A worker who disputes his retirement benefits cannot be barred from suing under ERISA for failing to pursue arbitration where only his union had the power to initiate arbitration and it failed to do so, a federal judge has ruled.
But in the same 24-page opinion in Murren v. American National Can Co. et al., Senior U.S. District Judge James McGirr Kelly dismissed all claims against two unions for breach of fiduciary duty, saying their roles in seeking arbitration cannot legally be equated with “administration” of the ERISA plans.
