University of Michigan Law School
Civil Rights Litigation Clearinghouse
HOME
ABOUT
FOR TEACHERS
SEARCH
QUESTIONS
RECENT ADDITIONS
feedback/
suggestions
log in/
register
Case Profile
new search
page permalink
Case Name
Walker v. Monsanto Co. Pension Plan
EE-IL-0321
Docket / Court
3:04-cv-00436 ( S.D. Ill. )
State/Territory
Illinois
Case Type(s)
Equal Employment
Special Collection
Private Employment Class Actions
Case Summary
On June 23, 2004, plaintiffs filed this class action complaint against the Monsanto Co. Pension Plan in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Illinois. The complaint alleged violations of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) in regards to age discrimination. The ...
read more >
On June 23, 2004, plaintiffs filed this class action complaint against the Monsanto Co. Pension Plan in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Illinois. The complaint alleged violations of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) in regards to age discrimination. The alleged violations stemmed from Monsanto's conversion on January 1, 1997, of its pension plan from a conventional defined benefit plan to a cash balance plan.
As the case proceeded other cases were consolidated and various additional plaintiffs who had similar complaints and defendants with the same pension plan were joined. On September 4, 2006, plaintiffs filed their final amended consolidated class action complaint. It contained ten counts that constituted three general allegations: that the pension plans violated ERISA by ceasing or reducing the rate an employee's benefits accrued on account of age, that the plans violated ERISA by back-loading the rate at which benefits accrued for older workers, and that the payment of interest on late benefit payments was below the rate specified in one of the plans.
On August 29, 2007, the district court (Judge Phil Gilbert) denied various motions to dismiss. On September 13, 2007, the court dismissed three counts of the complaint relating to the reduction of the rate at which benefits accrued with prejudice on the basis of a recently decided case in the Seventh Circuit. Class action status was certified on May 22, 2008.
The district court (Judge Phil Gilbert) issued two opinions on June 11, 2009, concerning the competing motions for summary judgment. Summary judgment was granted to the plaintiffs on the claim that one plan failed to pay adequate interest on delayed pension payments. But the court granted defendants summary judgment on the counts relating to the back-loading of the rate at which benefits accrued.
On October 27, 2009, plaintiffs appealed to the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals and on September 22, 2010, the Seventh Circuit affirmed the decision of the district court. On September 30, 2014, the district court ordered the exhibits to be destroyed or disposed of, and the case closed.
Michael Perry - 06/29/2010
MJ Koo - 03/09/2017
compress summary
- click to show/hide ALL -
Issues and Causes of Action
click to show/hide detail
Issues
Discrimination-area
Pay / Benefits
Discrimination-basis
Age discrimination
General
Disparate Treatment
Plaintiff Type
Private Plaintiff
Causes of Action
Age Discrimination in Employment Act (ADEA), 29 U.S.C. §§ 621 et seq.
Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA), 29 U.S.C. § 1001
Case Details
click to show/hide detail
Defendant(s)
Monsanto Co.
Monsanto Co. Pension Plan
Pfizer Inc.
Pharmacia
Solutia Inc.
Plaintiff Description
Participants in the Monsanto Co. Pension Plan.
Class action status sought
Yes
Class action status granted
Yes
Filed Pro Se
No
Prevailing Party
Mixed
Public Int. Lawyer
No
Nature of Relief
Injunction / Injunctive-like Settlement
Source of Relief
Settlement
Form of Settlement
Court Approved Settlement or Consent Decree
Filed
06/23/2004
Case Closing Year
2014
Case Ongoing
No
Related Cases
click to show/hide detail
Case Listing
EE-IL-0286
: Donaldson v. Pharmacia Pension Plan (S.D. Ill.)
Additional Resources
click to show/hide detail
See this case
at CourtListener.com
(May provide additional documents and, for active cases, real-time alerts)
Documents
click to show/hide detail
Court
Docket(s)
U.S. Court of Appeals
04/20/2010
09-3637
EE-IL-0321-9001.pdf
|
Detail
Source: PACER [Public Access to Court Electronic Records]
S.D. Ill.
09/30/2014
3:04-cv-00436
EE-IL-0321-9000.pdf
|
Detail
Source: PACER [Public Access to Court Electronic Records]
General Documents
S.D. Ill.
06/23/2004
Class Action Complaint
(2004 WL 3112273)
EE-IL-0321-0001.pdf
|
WESTLAW
|
Detail
Source: Westlaw
S.D. Ill.
09/04/2006
CONSOLIDATED CLASS ACTION COMPLAINT [ECF# 139]
EE-IL-0321-0002.pdf
|
Detail
Source: PACER [Public Access to Court Electronic Records]
S.D. Ill.
09/27/2006
Memorandum and Order (Denying motion for class certification)
(2006 WL 2802051)
EE-IL-0321-0008.pdf
|
WESTLAW
|
External Link
|
Detail
Source: Non-PACER U.S. District Court Website
S.D. Ill.
10/25/2006
Order (Staying consideration of three accounts until the resolution of Cooper v. IBM Personal Pension Plan)
(472 F.Supp.2d 1053)
EE-IL-0321-0007.pdf
|
WESTLAW
|
LEXIS
|
External Link
|
Detail
S.D. Ill.
08/29/2007
Memorandum and Order (Denying motions to dismiss)
(2007 U.S.Dist.LEXIS 63793)
EE-IL-0321-0012.pdf
|
LEXIS
|
Detail
Source: LexisNexis
S.D. Ill.
09/13/2007
Memorandum and Order (Dismissing three counts)
(2007 U.S.Dist.LEXIS 67704)
EE-IL-0321-0013.pdf
|
LEXIS
|
Detail
Source: LexisNexis
S.D. Ill.
05/22/2008
Opinion Consolidated Class Action (cerifying class action)
(252 F.R.D. 450)
EE-IL-0321-0011.pdf
|
WESTLAW
|
LEXIS
|
Detail
Source: Google Scholar
S.D. Ill.
06/11/2009
Opinion (Granting plaintiff summary judgment on one count)
(636 F.Supp.2d 785)
EE-IL-0321-0009.pdf
|
WESTLAW
|
LEXIS
|
Detail
Source: Google Scholar
S.D. Ill.
06/11/2009
Opinion (Granting defendant summary judgment on three counts)
(636 F.Supp.2d 774)
EE-IL-0321-0010.pdf
|
WESTLAW
|
LEXIS
|
Detail
Source: Google Scholar
S.D. Ill.
09/29/2009
Clerk's Judgment on Count X [ECF# 341]
EE-IL-0321-0015.pdf
|
Detail
Source: PACER [Public Access to Court Electronic Records]
U.S. Court of Appeals
01/12/2010
Brief and Required Short Appendix for Plaintiff - Appellants
(2010 WL 300586)
EE-IL-0321-0003.pdf
|
WESTLAW
|
Detail
Source: Westlaw
U.S. Court of Appeals
03/12/2010
Brief and Supplemental Appendix of Defendants - Appellees
(2010 WL 1789182)
EE-IL-0321-0004.pdf
|
WESTLAW
|
Detail
Source: Westlaw
U.S. Court of Appeals
04/13/2010
Reply Brief of Plaintiffs - Appellants
EE-IL-0321-0005.pdf
|
Detail
Source: Westlaw
U.S. Court of Appeals
07/30/2010
Opinion (Affirming the district court's ruling granting summary judgment to the defendants on three counts)
(614 F.3d 415)
EE-IL-0321-0006.pdf
|
WESTLAW
|
LEXIS
|
External Link
|
Detail
Source: U.S. Court of Appeals website
U.S. Court of Appeals
09/14/2010
Order of US Court of Appeals [Ct. of App. ECF# 355]
EE-IL-0321-0014.pdf
|
Detail
Source: PACER [Public Access to Court Electronic Records]
People
click to show/hide detail
show all people docs
Judges
Bauer, William Joseph
(N.D. Ill., Seventh Circuit)
show/hide docs
EE-IL-0321-0006 | EE-IL-0321-0006 | EE-IL-0321-0014
Evans, Terence Thomas
(E.D. Wis., Seventh Circuit)
show/hide docs
EE-IL-0321-0006 | EE-IL-0321-0014
Flaum, Joel Martin
(N.D. Ill., Seventh Circuit)
show/hide docs
EE-IL-0321-0006 | EE-IL-0321-0014
Frazier, Philip M.
(S.D. Ill.) [Magistrate]
show/hide docs
EE-IL-0321-9000
Gilbert, John Phil
(S.D. Ill.)
show/hide docs
EE-IL-0321-0009 | EE-IL-0321-0010 | EE-IL-0321-0011 | EE-IL-0321-0012 | EE-IL-0321-0013 | EE-IL-0321-0014 | EE-IL-0321-0015 | EE-IL-0321-9000 | EE-IL-0321-9000
Herndon, David R.
(S.D. Ill.)
show/hide docs
EE-IL-0321-0007 | EE-IL-0321-0008
Plaintiff's Lawyers
Armstrong, Matthew H.
(Missouri)
show/hide docs
EE-IL-0321-0001 | EE-IL-0321-0002 | EE-IL-0321-9000 | EE-IL-0321-9001
Carr, Rex
(Illinois)
show/hide docs
EE-IL-0321-9000
Cueto, Christopher F.
(Illinois)
show/hide docs
EE-IL-0321-9000
Dirks, Eric L.
(Missouri)
show/hide docs
EE-IL-0321-0002 | EE-IL-0321-9000
Girard, Daniel C.
(California)
show/hide docs
EE-IL-0321-0001 | EE-IL-0321-9000
Levine, Jonathan
(California)
show/hide docs
EE-IL-0321-0001 | EE-IL-0321-9000
Marker, Michael B.
(Illinois)
show/hide docs
EE-IL-0321-0001 | EE-IL-0321-0002 | EE-IL-0321-9000 | EE-IL-0321-9001
McGuire, Todd M.
(Missouri)
show/hide docs
EE-IL-0321-9000
Schlichter, Jerome J.
(Missouri)
show/hide docs
EE-IL-0321-0002 | EE-IL-0321-9000
Siegel, Norman E.
(Missouri)
show/hide docs
EE-IL-0321-0002 | EE-IL-0321-0003 | EE-IL-0321-0005 | EE-IL-0321-9000 | EE-IL-0321-9001
Stueve, Patrick J.
(Missouri)
show/hide docs
EE-IL-0321-9000
Defendant's Lawyers
Berra, Thomas P. Jr.
(Missouri)
show/hide docs
EE-IL-0321-9000
Blocker, Mark Bruce
(Illinois)
show/hide docs
EE-IL-0321-0004 | EE-IL-0321-9000 | EE-IL-0321-9001
Bonacorsi, Louis F.
(Missouri)
show/hide docs
EE-IL-0321-9000
Cohen, Carol Connor
(District of Columbia)
show/hide docs
EE-IL-0321-0004 | EE-IL-0321-9000 | EE-IL-0321-9001
Conlon, William F.
(Illinois)
show/hide docs
EE-IL-0321-9000
Cook, Bruce N.
(Illinois)
show/hide docs
EE-IL-0321-9000
Cox, A. Courtney
(Illinois)
show/hide docs
EE-IL-0321-9000
Dixon, Gretchen
(District of Columbia)
show/hide docs
EE-IL-0321-9000
English, Caroline T.
(District of Columbia)
show/hide docs
EE-IL-0321-0004 | EE-IL-0321-9000
Golterman, Robert J.
(Missouri)
show/hide docs
EE-IL-0321-0004 | EE-IL-0321-9000
Hochman, Robert N.
(Illinois)
show/hide docs
EE-IL-0321-0004 | EE-IL-0321-9001
Kelly, Erin E.
(Illinois)
show/hide docs
EE-IL-0321-9000
Meyer, Chris K.
(Illinois)
show/hide docs
EE-IL-0321-0004 | EE-IL-0321-9000
Montesano, Leah
(District of Columbia)
show/hide docs
EE-IL-0321-0004
Nester, Michael J.
(Illinois)
show/hide docs
EE-IL-0321-9000
Perryman, Neal F.
(Missouri)
show/hide docs
EE-IL-0321-0004 | EE-IL-0321-9000 | EE-IL-0321-9001
Phelps, Theresa A.
(Missouri)
show/hide docs
EE-IL-0321-9000
Rea, Anne E.
(Illinois)
show/hide docs
EE-IL-0321-0004 | EE-IL-0321-9000
Rillo, Christopher J.
(California)
show/hide docs
EE-IL-0321-9000
Ryan, Priscilla E.
(Illinois)
show/hide docs
EE-IL-0321-9000
Sallerson, Dawn A.
(Illinois)
show/hide docs
EE-IL-0321-9000
Sandrock, Ryan M.
(Illinois)
show/hide docs
EE-IL-0321-9000
Wyland, Neil H.
(Illinois)
show/hide docs
EE-IL-0321-9000
Ysursa, Bernard J. Sr.
(Illinois)
show/hide docs
EE-IL-0321-9000
- click to show/hide ALL -
new search
page permalink
- top of page -
Contact
Report an Error
Privacy Policy