Dismissal of Former Anheuser-Busch Employee’s ERISA Claim Affirmed by the Eighth Circuit

Partners Jim Bennett and Jennifer Kingston appeared on the briefs filed in the United States Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit by Anheuser-Busch Companies Pension Plan, Anheuser-Busch Companies, Inc., and Anheuser-Busch Inbev, N.V.  The decision of the Court of Appeals affirmed the U.S. District Court’s dismissal of the former A-B employee’s claim for benefits under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA).  The district court held that the employee had failed to exhaust his administrative remedies.   The Court of Appeals agreed that an administrative remedy was available to the employee and that such remedy must be exhausted before the employee could pursue any civil remedy in federal court.   The case is Angevine v. Anheuser-Busch Companies Pension Plan et al., Case No. 10-2832.