Alaska Employment Law

U. S. District Judge John Sedwick has approved limited discovery on a claim of a structural conflict of interest in an ERISA pension plan.  The claim arose in litigation challenging Alyeska Pipeline Service Company’s use of “leased employees,” and its assertion that they are not “common law employees” entitled to participate in several of the company’s ERISA plans.  The litigation was brought by only one plaintiff, but he claims that the adminsitrators’ concern about the precedential effect of a grant of benefits to a “leased employee” creates a structural conflict that triggers a more rigorous standard of judicial review.  

After noting that courts typically don’t require disclosure of “case-specific” data about other ERISA claimants, Sedwick has ordered the defendants to produce statistical data about the claims of other leased employees.  Sedwick also ordered the defendants to produce various Plan financial data (value of assets, total benefits paid, and employer contributions), and to submit to two seven-hour depositions about the alleged conflict of interest.

Reinking v. Alyeska Pipeline Serv. Co., ___ F.Supp.2d ___ (D.Alaska Order of May 7, 2009)

George Freeman and Tim Seaver represent the plaintiff.  Andrew Behrend and James Torgerson represent the defendants.  All counsel are from Anchorage.