Don Nickles: “I have heard sponsors of the bill say employers cannot be sued under this bill. I believe that is a direct quote. That…”

“I have heard sponsors of the bill say employers cannot be sued under this bill. I believe that is a direct quote. That is not factually correct. Under this bill, on page 144, is language that deals with this. It says: (A) Causes Of Action Against Employers And Plan Sponsors Precluded. That sounds really good. But that is paragraph (A). Paragraph (B) on page 145 says: Certain Causes Of Action Permitted.--Notwithstanding subparagraph (A), a cause of action may arise against an employer or other plan sponsor. (A) says you cannot sue an employer and (B) says notwithstanding (A) you can sue an employer. It goes on for several pages, whether an employer had direct participation or not. But as an employer, if you have to comply with ERISA, you do a lot of things other than the exemptions provided in the legislation. In other words, under this bill, you can be sued. Some say that is not true, that is not what we meant. If it is there, we will fix it. We have a chance to fix it and we can adopt this language. This is language that says employers shall not be held liable under this law. We ought to pass it.”