An executive-level supplemental retirement benefits package—called a “top hat” plan—is to be administered according to the interpretation of the company that sponsors it, the Third Circuit has ruled, reversing a district court decision.
Three senior executives who had taken early retirement from Evonik RohMax, an oil additives company, had challenged the company’s calculation of their annual cost-of-living adjustment between the regular pension plan and their additional “top hat” plan, alleging that they had been denied the full amount of what they were entitled to.
