Employer Groups Push Court to Toss PRT Case 

The ERISA Industry Committee, the American Benefits Council and other employer groups filed an amicus brief urging the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Washington to dismiss a complaint challenging a 2019 pension risk transfer deal. 

In the case, Maneman v. Weyerhaeuser Company, plaintiffs alleged that Weyerhaeuser had improperly transferred $1.5 billion in pension liabilities from its pension plan by purchasing annuity contracts from Athene Annuity and Life Co. in a complaint filed in December 2024. 

According to the original complaint, the transfer affected more than half of plan participants. The filing further stated that “as a result of this transaction, plaintiffs and similarly situated Weyerhaeuser retirees and their beneficiaries are no longer covered by the plan and, therefore, no longer receive ERISA’s protections for employee retirement benefits.” 

The complaint notes that an employer’s decision to transfer pension obligations to an insurance company is considered a business decision not subject to fiduciary standards of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act. However, it argues that “the choice of an insurer is a fiduciary decision subject to ERISA’s strict standards of prudence and loyalty.” 

The employer groups’ amicus brief argues that plaintiffs are unable to claim that benefits were reduced because of the PRT, and allowing the case to survive a motion to dismiss would lead to challenges of all PRTs.  

According to the amicus brief, “Weyerhaeuser acted in its settlor capacity as plan sponsor to replace the plan’s ongoing obligation to provide certain benefits with the purchase of annuity contracts,” as the original complaint similarly stated.  

In addition to participants receiving the same promised benefits, the employer groups urged the dismissal of the case by denouncing the plaintiffs’ claims that the PRT increases “risk” by moving away from an ERISA-governed plan into an insurer-backed annuity.  

The brief argued that single-employer pension plans have higher failure rates than do insurer-backed annuities and the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation, which protects pensions benefits for private sector workers under ERISA, does not guarantee pension benefits against all losses. It also says that insurers are highly regulated in PRTs and have “multiple layers of protection” in the event of a default. 

Outside of disputing the plaintiffs’ claims, the employer groups ultimately called on the court to dismiss the claims because they argued that no injuries were alleged because of the transaction. 

“The Plaintiffs’ bar is throwing spaghetti at the wall with these pension risk transfer lawsuits, hoping something sticks,” said Andy Banducci, senior vice president for retirement and compensation policy at ERIC, in a statement. “If meritless claims move forward, plaintiffs’ firms get a payday while employers, employees, and the retirement system are left with both a hefty bill and fewer resources in retirement plans. The court has an opportunity to put an end to this by dismissing the case and sending a clear message that these actions won’t be tolerated.” 

A similar group of employer organizations filed an amicus brief in January urging dismissal of a PRT lawsuit against Bristol-Myers Squibb Co., also for a 2019 transaction with Athene Annuity and Life Co. Several other companies, including AT&T Inc., General Electric Co. and Lockheed Martin Corp., have also been sued over PRT deals with Athene. 

In the complaint against Weyerhaeuser, the plaintiffs are represented by Schlichter Bogard LLC. The defendants are represented by Proskauer Rose LLP and Perkins Coie.