9th Cir,;
15-35414

The court of appeals affirmed in part and reversed in part a judgment and remanded. The court held that a pension fund improperly withheld employer contributions to improve pension plan's funding status.

In May 2008, the Trustees of the IBEW Pacific Coast Pension Fund learned that the pension plan was severely underfunded for 2009 and subsequent plan years and would soon enter “critical status” under the Pension Protection Act of 2006. In response, the Trustees amended the pension plan twice—in Amendments 14 and 24—to permit the withholding of at least $1.00 per hour from all employer contributions to improve the plan's funding status. Puget Sound Electrical Workers Pension Trust member Richard Lehman filed a putative class action against the Trustees under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA), alleging the Trustees breached the plan's terms, violated ERISA §204 and 305, and breached their fiduciary duties by withholding monies from his employer contributions without providing an accrued benefit.