LESLIE D. NOLAN v. DETROIT EDISON COMPANY; DTE ENERGY CORPORATE SERVICES, LLC; DTE ENERGY COMPANY RETIREMENT PLAN; DTE ENERGY BENEFIT PLAN ADMINISTRATION COMMITTEE; JANET POSLER; QUALIFIED PLAN APPEALS COMMITTEE; MICHAEL S. COOPER; RENEE MORAN; JEROME HOOPER - Articles

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LESLIE D. NOLAN v. DETROIT EDISON COMPANY; DTE ENERGY CORPORATE SERVICES, LLC; DTE ENERGY COMPANY RETIREMENT PLAN; DTE ENERGY BENEFIT PLAN ADMINISTRATION COMMITTEE; JANET POSLER; QUALIFIED PLAN APPEALS COMMITTEE; MICHAEL S. COOPER; RENEE MORAN; JEROME HOOPER

Posted by: Tanja Trezise on Mar 23, 2021

Court: 6th Circuit Court (Published Opinions)

Attorneys 1: ARGUED: Eva T. Cantarella, HERTZ SCHRAM, PC, Bloomfield Hills, Michigan, for Appellant.

Attorneys 2: ARGUED: Chris K. Meyer, SIDLEY AUSTIN LLP, Chicago, Illinois, for Appellees.

Attorneys 3: ON BRIEF: Eva T. Cantarella, HERTZ SCHRAM, PC, Bloomfield Hills, Michigan, for Appellant.

Attorneys 4: ON BRIEF: Chris K. Meyer, Mark B. Blocker, SIDLEY AUSTIN LLP, Chicago, Illinois, for Appellees.

Judge(s): BATCHELDER, STRANCH, and NALBANDIAN, Circuit Judges

Court Appealed: United States District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan at Detroit

JANE B. STRANCH, Circuit Judge. Leslie Nolan is one of many American workers impacted by the previous decision of employers to move away from traditional pension plans. In 2002, her employer, Detroit Edison Company (DTE), created a cash balance pension plan for all new employees and invited its existing employees to transfer from their traditional defined benefit plan to the new plan. Nolan accepted. When she retired in December 2017, DTE told Nolan that her monthly pension benefit would be what she had accrued as of 2002 under the old traditional pension plan, despite her participation in the new cash balance plan for 15½ years after transfer. Nolan brings class action claims alleging that DTE made misleading promises and failed to explain the new plan’s risks, in violation of several provisions of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA). The district court granted DTE’s motion to dismiss, finding that Nolan’s allegations were untimely or failed to state a claim. We REVERSE in part, AFFIRM in part, and REMAND the case for further proceedings consistent with this opinion.

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