Judge rules Acme Brick pension lawsuit can continue (involves Berkshire Hathaway)
FORT WORTH -- Berkshire Hathaway couldn’t convince a Fort Worth federal judge to toss out a lawsuit accusing it of improperly reducing certain pension benefits of subsidiary Acme Brick.
The case stems from the 2000 acquisition of Justin Industries Inc. — then Acme’s parent company — by Berkshire for $600 million. As part of the merger agreement, Berkshire agreed to not cause Acme to reduce employees’ benefits under the company’s pension and 401(k) plans.
In 2014, the Acme participants sued Berkshire for breach of contract and violations under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act.
Declining to dismiss the amended lawsuit, U.S. District Judge Terry Means on Wednesday held that certain clauses of the merger agreement between Justin and Berkshire apply to future rather than past pension accruals and employer contributions.
Read more here: http://www.star-telegram.com/news/business/article154081209.html
