EAST ST. LOUIS – Former Casino Queen owners Charles Bidwill, Timothy Rand, and James Koman must defend claims that they cheated employees out of their pensions, U.S. District Judge David Dugan ruled on Jan. 28.
Lars Golumbic, the chair of the benefits-focused law firm Groom Law Group's litigation practice, predicts that the U.S. Supreme Court will end up tackling the hot-button issue of whether retirement plan sponsors can hardwire arbitration agreements into a plan's governing documents.
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Bortscheller
EAST ST. LOUIS – Casino Queen directors and former owners can’t enforce individual arbitration of claims that they cheated employees out of retirement income, U.S. District Judge David Dugan ruled on Jan. 25.
He rejected an arbitration clause that directors inserted by amendment in 2018, finding they failed to provide any consideration.
“Consideration exists only if there is a grant of an advantage or the bargained for acceptance of a disadvantage,” Dugan wrote.
He found the contract change was at worst illusory.
He relied on an Illinois Supreme Court case where a contract change provided nothing of value to plaintiffs and a defendant gained a corresponding benefit.