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Banking Law Keyed to Barr, 3rd Ed.
Firestone Tire and Rubber Co. v. Bruch
Citation:
489 U.S. 101 (1989)Facts
In 1980, Firestone sold its Plastics Division to Occidental Petroleum Company as a going concern. Most of the approximately 500 salaried employees were rehired by Occidental and continued in their same positions without interruption at the same rates of pay. At the time of the sale, Firestone maintained three benefit plans for its employees: a termination pay plan, a retirement plan, and a stock purchase plan. Firestone was the sole source of funding and served as the administrator and fiduciary of these “unfunded” plans. Six former Firestone employees who were rehired by Occidental sought severance benefits under the termination pay plan, which provided benefits if an employee was “released because of a reduction in work force.” Several employees also requested information about their benefits under all three plans. Firestone denied both the benefits and information requests, claiming the sale did not constitute a “reduction in work force” and that the former employees were no longer “participants” in the plans. The employees filed a class action under ERISA to recover benefits and damages for Firestone’s failure to provide plan information.
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