Verdicts

In Ladouceur v. Credit Lyonnais, 07-4040-cv, U.S. Court Of Appeals, Second Circuit, Sept. 30, 2009, plaintiffs were employed by a Credit Lyonnais subsidiary absorbed by its corporate parent in 2001. They alleged that Credit Lyonnais and its human resources director orally misrepresented the merger's effect on plaintiffs' pension benefits plan, which was governed by ERISA. The district court summarily dismissed their allegations of promissory estoppel and breach of fiduciary duty based on the oral misrepresentations. On appeal, plaintiffs argued that an oral representation was enough to show a breach of fiduciary duty claim based on a purported alteration of a benefits plan governed by ERISA. The panel affirmed judgment rejecting plaintiffs' assertion that the district court erred in dismissing “for lack of any writing” their claim for breach of fiduciary duty under ERISA. The panel concluded that because a statement cannot effect a change in an ERISA plan, that statement cannot be given effect by re-characterizing it as a breach of fiduciary duty. It observed that to give such effect to an oral statement would undermine ERISA's framework ensuring that ERISA plans be governed by written documents and dilute the protection conferred by the writing requirement.