Testa v. Becker

Plaintiff filed suit against the plan administrator for Xerox under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) for denial of benefits and breach of fiduciary duty. The Second Circuit held that plaintiff's denial of benefits claim was untimely and that the administrator, not plaintiff, was entitled to summary judgment on the fiduciary duty claim.The court held that a litigant may not bring a denial‐of‐benefits claim under ERISA when the limitations period is six years and his claim accrued twelve years before he sued. The court also held that Frommert v. Conkright, 433 F.3d 254 (2d Cir. 2006), did not order the plan administrator not to apply the so‐called "phantom account offset" to plan participants who did not bring timely denial of benefits claims. Accordingly, the court affirmed in part, reversed in part, and remanded for directions to enter judgment for the administrator and the Xerox Plan. View "Testa v. Becker" on Justia Law