Board Resolution Did Not Override Employee Handbook Requirements

Recently, the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit vacated a district court's grant of partial summary judgment when it found that a board resolution was insufficient to terminate an ERISA severance plan contained in the company's employee handbook. First, the Fourth Circuit noted that employee benefit plans subject to ERISA must be established via a written instrument, provide a procedure for amending the plan, and identify those individuals with the authority to make plan amendments. Then, the Fourth Circuit noted that the employee handbook (1) gave the company the power to "alter or eliminate handbook provisions," and (2) provided the procedure for amending the employee handbook: "in writing by the Human Resources department." In short, because the company did not follow the employee handbook's procedures for terminating the severance plan, the Fourth Circuit held that the district court erred in finding that the company was entitled to summary