A federal judge in Delaware on Monday denied most motions to dismiss and overruled all objections in federal proposed class actions accusing E.I. duPont de Nemours & Co. of using outdated actuarial formulas to calculate workers’ retirement benefits.
In a four-page memorandum and order, U.S. District Judge Jennifer L. Hall found most claims strong enough to clear the bar for dismissal in the two cases alleging violations of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act.
The claims had already been recommended to go forward in February by U.S. Magistrate Judge Laura D. Hatcher.
“Plaintiffs nonetheless filed objections and defendants responded,” Judge Hall wrote. “I can quickly deny plaintiffs’ objections” in one of the two cases based on failures to identify a standard of review and to certify that the objections raise no new arguments,” she added.
Mary J. Hamrick, David B. Beckley, and Valentin Rodriguez filed the first suit in March against E.I. du Pont, alleging it violated ERISA by failing to use U.S. Treasury Department actuarial assumptions to calculate benefits they received under their pension plan’s income-leveling option for those who retire before age 62.
