5th Circuit confirms Verizon de-risking did not violate ERISA [telecom]

open original image

by Nick Thornton

The 5th Circuit Court of Appeals has upheld a lower court that ruled for Verizon Communications Inc. in a case that called into question the legality of pension annuity buyouts.

The case, Lee v. Verizon, stems from a 2012 pension buyout, which moved $7.5 billion in pension liabilities, or about a quarter of all the communication giant?s obligations, to Prudential Insurance Co.