Bourgeois v. Pension Plan For The Employees Of Santa Fe International Corporations, 215 F.3d 475 (5^th Cir. 2000)-The court addressed the issue of exhaustion of administrative remedies, where an employee "received the runaround" by company officials who never directed him to the appropriate administrative channels. The court vacated and remanded the case with instructions to refer the employee's claims to the Committee for an initial benefits determination on the merits—specifically estopping arguments that his claims were time-barred.

Here, Bourgeois exchanged letters with various high-ranking officials of Santa Fe Engineering and Construction Co. about the methods being used to calculate his pension benefits. Before Bourgeois received any clear answer, his division of the company was sold, after which an official flatly told him there was nothing more to discuss.

This court declined to condone Bourgeois' use of informal channels of complaint, noting that he failed to show evidence that pursuing the matter through the Committee would have been "futile." As for Bourgeois' argument that he was never informed of the proper procedures, since he was never provided an SPD, this court noted that plaintiffs must use administrative procedures before filing suit even if they have no notice of what those procedures are. See Meza v. General Battery Corp., 908 F.2d 1262 (5^th Cir. 1990).

This court was, however, sympathetic to the fact that Bourgeois relied to his detriment on the words and actions of high-ranking company officers who purported to negotiate benefit decisions without actual authority. The court concluded that while it would not rule out the possibility that estoppel might allow a claimant to overcome a defense based on failure to exhaust, it would estop the defendants from arguing before the Committee that the statute of limitations barred Bourgeois' claim.