Frank J. Souza v. The Trustees of the Western Conference of Teamsters Pension Trust

I. History of Case

This class action was filed in 1973 (certified in 1974) to obtain declaratory and injunctive relief against enforcement of an “age requirement” for the vesting of pension benefits under the Western Conference of Teamsters pension plan. The “plan” was an employee benefit trust fund jointly administered by employer and employee trustees, governed by section 302(c)(5) of the Labor Management Relations Act of 1947 (the “Act”). ( 29 U.S.C. § 186 (c)(5)). The Teamsters plan provided that an employee’s retirement benefit was vested if he had attained at least 15 years of unbroken service, 3,000 covered hours with a covered employer and a minimum age. (The minimum age was 52 through 1968 and was reduced to 45 by the trustees thereafter). This minimum age requirement was challenged as allegedly violative of Section 302(c)(5) of the Act. ( 29 U.S.C. § 186 (c)(5)). The statute provides in part that the assets of such trust funds must be held for the “sole and exclusive benefit of the employees.... ” Section 302(e) authorizes district courts “to restrain violations of this section.” ( 29 U.S.C. § 186 (e)).

The trial court denied defendants’ motion for summary judgment in…