RTX Corp. Agrees to Settle ERISA Lawsuit

Plan sponsor RTX Corp. and Lori Miars, have jointly filed court papers agreeing to settle a 2023 lawsuit that alleged the aerospace and defense company had denied its former employee long-term disability benefits available under the employer’s benefits plan and violated the Employee Retirement Income Security Act.

Details of the settlement, filed on April 5, were not disclosed.

Court papers inform the U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts, which is presiding over the lawsuit, of the pending settlement. 

Following the joint filing, Judge Richard G. Stearns submitted court papers April 9 to dismiss the lawsuit without costs and without prejudice.

The litigation could be reopened by either party within 60 days if settlement is not completed, he wrote.

Miars worked at the plan sponsor, formerly Raytheon, as a senior telecom technologist, was a participant in the Raytheon Company Disability Plans and was eligible for disability benefits under the plan, the complaint stated. The initial complaint in the case, Miars v. Raytheon Company Disability Plans, was filed in August 2023.

The Raytheon Company Disability Plans provide long-term disability benefit payments to covered beneficiaries who have become “totally disabled” as a result of “sickness or injury,” attorneys for Miars argued.

Miars’ complaint requested the court declare her to be totally disabled and require Raytheon to pay both back benefits, plus interest, and continue paying her benefits as long as she remains disabled, subject to the applicable benefit period in the plan.

Representatives of RTX did not return requests for comment, nor did attorneys for the plaintiff or defendant. Miars is represented in the lawsuit by attorneys Ivan Ramos and Tere Ramos of Ramos Law LLC. RTX Corp. is represented by attorney William Pandolph with the law offices of Sulloway & Hollis, P.L.L.C.