Koren v. Cigna Severance Pay Plan

**What Happened** David Koren sued CIGNA Corporation over severance pay he believed he was owed. Koren claimed CIGNA broke their contract by not paying him severance benefits when his employment ended. He tried to bring his case under ERISA, a federal law that governs employee benefit plans. **What the Court Decided** The court dismissed Koren's lawsuit entirely. The judge ruled that the court didn't have the authority to hear the case because Koren didn't qualify as a "participant" in CIGNA's severance plan under ERISA rules. According to the court, the plan's written terms showed that Koren wasn't eligible for severance benefits in the first place, which meant he couldn't use ERISA to challenge the denial. **Why This Matters for Workers** This ruling highlights how important it is for workers to carefully read their company's benefit plan documents. Just because you work for a company doesn't automatically make you eligible for all their benefits. Courts will look at the specific written terms of benefit plans to determine who qualifies. Workers should review their employee handbooks and benefit summaries to understand exactly what they're entitled to, rather than making assumptions about coverage.