Trial lawyers specializing in personal injury and civil litigation
Retirees are bound by collective bargaining agreement's binding arbitration clause
Two retirees from TRW Vehicle Safety Systems filed a lawsuit under ERISA and the Labor Management Relations Act, challenging the Company's decision to reduce their retirement medical benefits. The Company demanded that the litigation be referred to arbitration and the judge agreed. The retirees appealed. This week, the Sixth Circuit held that since the employees were attempted to enforce bargaining rights from a Collective Bargaining Agreement, they were bound by the CBA's arbitration clause, even though they were retired before the proposed reduction in benefits was instituted.