Stephen Bafford v. Administrative Cmte. of the Northrop Grumman Plan

FOR PUBLICATION

UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS

FOR THE NINTH CIRCUIT

STEPHEN H. BAFFORD; LAURA No. 22-55634

BAFFORD; EVELYN L. WILSON,

on their own behalves and on behalf of D.C. No. a class of similarly situated 2:18-cv-10219- participants and beneficiaries, ODW-E Plaintiffs-Appellants,

v. OPINION

ADMINISTRATIVE COMMITTEE

OF THE NORTHROP GRUMMAN

PENSION PLAN,

Defendant-Appellee,

and

NORTHROP GRUMMAN

CORPORATION; ALIGHT

SOLUTIONS LLC, FKA Hewitt Associates LLC, Defendants.

Appeal from the United States District Court for the Central District of California Otis D. Wright II, District Judge, Presiding 2 BAFFORD V. ADMIN. COMM. OF THE NORTHROP GRUMMAN PLAN

Argued and Submitted October 17, 2023 San Francisco, California

Filed May 9, 2024

Before: Morgan Christen, Roopali H. Desai, and Anthony D. Johnstone, Circuit Judges. *

Opinion by Judge Christen

SUMMARY **

Employee Retirement Income Security Act

The panel reversed the district court’s dismissal of an action brought by pension plan participants, alleging that the plan administrator violated the Employee Retirement Income…