A federal district court in California held that a complaint filed by members of the International Union of Operating Engineers that challenged pension plan trustees’ decision to make certain investments was filed five days too late and thus barred by ERISA’s six-year statute of limitations. 

In so holding, the court ruled that the limitations period commenced at the time the fund entered into the investment management agreement, not the time when the plan assets were actually invested. The court explained that the action of making the payments into the investment were ministerial acts, as the fund had already been legally obligated to make them.  The case is Slack v. Burns, 13-CV-5001, 2016 BL 233292 (N.D. Cal. July 20, 2016).