Haran v. Dow Jones & Co., Inc., 2000 U.S. App. LEXIS 14114 (2^nd Cir. June 15, 2000) (unpublished)-This court affirmed the summary judgment against 265 current and former employees of Dow Jones Markets, Inc. who sought severance benefits under an ERISA plan. The plaintiffs argued that the sale of the company through a stock purchase agreement triggered a provision in their summary plan description (SPD) which provided that "in the event of an involuntary separation (termination of services) because of . . . the Company's decision to reduce staff size or eliminate a job function, Dow Jones will provide severance pay."

The district court correctly stated that the sale did not trigger a severance pay provision since the sale did not qualify as a "staff reduction" or "job function elimination" decision.  Furthermore, the company validly passed an amendment to the plan specifically designed to make clear that a sale of the company would not trigger severance pay.  The company followed procedures set out for plan amendments, and gave timely notice, which was well within "210 days after the end of the plan year in which the change is adopted."