"The Second Circuit's standard handcuffs plans. A 'normal retirement age' for purposes of ERISA determines not 'when employees must retire, but only when certain rights vest and how benefits are adjusted.' ... The Second Circuit's approach limits the alternatives available to plans in arranging their benefits offerings to meet companies' needs, thus burdening employers and, by making retirement plans less attractive, undermining ERISA' s goal of providing benefits to employees.... As matters currently stand, the same plan will be subject to competing interpretations depending on the district in which a claim is raised. Worse yet, in the Second Circuit, a plan will be subject to a vague, general standard that could lead to divergent results by different factfinders." [Laurent v. PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP, No. 14-1179 (2d Cir. July 23, 2015; cert. pet. filed Nov. 13, 2015)]  MORE >>