Okun v. Montefiore Med. Ctr. (Summary)

ERISA

Okun v. Montefiore Med. Ctr., No. 11 Civ. 9615 (PGG) (S.D. N.Y. Sept. 10, 2013)

The United States District Court for the Southern District of New York dismissed a case brought by a doctor against his previous employer, a medical center, for violations of ERISA after failing to offer the doctor severance payments.  The court found that severance payments did not qualify as an employee welfare benefit plan under ERISA, which the doctor would be entitled to, because no exercise of managerial discretion was involved and the medical center did not have an ongoing commitment to provide the payments.

In its explanation, the court said that the ongoing commitment factor weighed against a finding that the severance policy was an ERISA plan because the medical center had the right to change, modify, or discontinue the severance policy at any time, with or without notice.