You may designate another person to act as your authorized representative for purposes of the Plan’s claims and appeals procedures. To designate an authorized representative, you will need to fill out a form, which may be obtained from the Pension Office.
Under federal law, a claimant has the right to bring a civil action under Section 502(a) of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) if dissatisfied with the decision of the Trustees. Before bringing such an action, the claimant must exhaust the Plan’s claims and appeals procedures. Any such action against the Plan under ERISA must be filed within two years of the date of the decision of the Trustees on appeal.
The claimant has the right to receive free of charge, upon written request, all documents, records and other information relevant to the claim. Such request should be sent to the Pension Office.
Decisions on claims and appeals are made uniformly, in accordance with the terms and conditions of the Plan documents, and cannot be granted or paid unless authorized by those documents.
