Employment — ERISA

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United States Court of Appeals For the Seventh Circuit

Civil

Employment — ERISA

Where a CBA unambiguously required an employer to contribute to the employees’ pension plan during the course of the agreement, failure to make payments violated ERISA.

“Waste Management’s reading of the 2005 CBA is grammatically inaccurate and unreasonable. The first clause, stating the duration of the CBA, is separated from the remainder of the language by a comma, and is then followed by an automatic renewal provision. The opt-out provision follows, modifying only the automatic renewal provision; the opt-out provision does not modify the first clause. Thus, the CBA unambiguously allows either party to unilaterally cancel the automatic renewal of the 2005 CBA, so long as sixty days’ notice is provided prior to the expiration of the CBA. It does not, as Waste Management asserts, allow for the unilateral cancellation of the CBA during the stated term of the CBA. As the district court aptly noted, Waste Management’s reading of the CBA ‘would be absurd if for no other reason than that it would allow either party to opt out of the contract at any time during the four-year term of the agreement except for the last sixty days.’ Cent. States, Se. & Sw. Areas Pension Fund v. Waste Mgmt. of Mich., Inc., 737 F. Supp. 2d 952, 957 (N.D. Ill. 2010). Plainly, the terms of the relevant documents are unambiguous.”

Affirmed.

10-3286 Central States, Southeast and Southwest Areas Pension Fund v. Waste Management of Michigan, Inc.

Appeal from the United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois, Hibbler, J., Kanne, J.