The California federal district court dismissed a former Taco Bell recruiter’s suit against the popular chain restaurant and its parent company, Yum Brands. The employee pension plan was one of the claims made by the formerly employed recruiter, who has charged that employers had committed ERISA fraud by intentionally misclassifying him as an independent contractor in order to deny him access to employee benefits, including the employee pension plan.
However, the U.S. District Judge Philip S. Gutierrez disagreed, finding that the former recruiter lacked standing because he could not establish any right to vested benefits under Yum’s plans. Likewise, the judge refused to address the state law claims.
