Employment — ERISA

By: WISCONSIN LAW JOURNAL STAFF//January 28, 2014//

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United States Court of Appeals For the Seventh Circuit

Civil

Employment — ERISA

Where the defendants had no employment relationship with the plaintiffs, the discrimination claims under ERISA against them were properly dismissed.

“We affirm the dismissal of these claims. As relevant here, § 510 of ERISA makes it unlawful for ‘any person to discharge, fine, suspend, expel, discipline, or discriminate against a participant’ in an employee benefits plan for the purpose of interfering with his attainment of benefits under the plan. 29 U.S.C. § 1140. Although liability under this statute is not limited to employers, the plaintiffs allege only an unlawful ‘discharge,’ which presupposes an employment relationship. Only RTS was in an employment relationship with the members of Local 705, so the district court properly dismissed the § 510 claim against the other defendants.”

Affirmed.

11-3705 Teamsters Local Union No. 705 v. Burlington Northern Santa Fe, LLC

Appeal from the United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois, Der-Yeghiayan, J., Sykes, J.

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