Robert L. Liebross

Work History

2011-present: Attorney, Private Practice, concentrating in representing workers and retirees

1992-2005: under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA).

1988-1991: Pension Attorney, AARP, Washington, D.C.

1984-1988: Attorney, Pension Rights Center, Washington, D.C.

1979-1983: Attorney, Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission, Washington, D.C.

Family Care Manager

2001-August, 2010: From June, 2001, I took full-time care of both of my elderly and ill parents in their home in Westbury, NY.

Publications

EMPLOYEE BENEFITS LAW (2d ed., 2000), chapter editor, chapter 11, "ERISA Preemption and Effect on Other Laws," and 2002, 2004 Cumulative Supplements (2002, 2004), contributing author, chapters on Fiduciary Responsibility; Employment Discrimination and Employee Benefits.

EMPLOYEE BENEFITS LITIGATION IN COLORADO: PREVENTING IT, WINNING IT.

National Business Institute, Inc. 1996 (co-author).

Chapters on Private Pensions and Welfare Benefits under ERISA in ACLU Handbook, THE RIGHTS OF EMPLOYEES AND UNION MEMBERS," Southern Illinois U. Press (2d ed. 1994).

"Wrongs Without Rights: The Need For a Strong Federal Common Law of ERISA," 4 STANFORD LAW & POLICY REVIEW 221 (Winter, 1992-93).

"How to Determine If a Client Has a Pension Claim: The Basic Rules," 4 THE CORPORATE ANALYST 149 (August, 1992).

"Private Pensions," THE RIGHTS OF OLDER PERSONS, Southern Ill. U. Press (2d ed., 1989).

Unpublished Papers

"RECENT ERISA CASES," National Employment Lawyers Association meeting (Denver chapter), September 22, 2000.

"A Plaintiff Attorney's Look at ERISA Litigation," Western Pension and Benefits Conference, Denver Chapter, Third Annual Winter Conference, February, 1999.

"Everything an Employment Lawyer Needs to Know About ERISA, and Not One Iota More," Labor Law Forum Committee, COLORADO BAR ASSOCIATION 100TH ANNUAL CONVENTION, September, 1998.

"ERISA, the ADA, and Employee Health Insurance Plans," April, 1993, ATLA Conference.

Significant 1994 ERISA Cases," NELA Employee Advocate, Fall, 1994.

Significant Cases in the District of Colorado

Walker v. RTD Board of Trustees, 2003 U.S. App. Lexis 14603 (10th Cir., No. 02-1173, July 21, 2003), affirming No. 98-B-2585, D. Colo. 2002)(trustees willfully and wantonly amended pension plan to unlawfully reduce retiree pensions).

Garratt v. Walker, 164 F.3d 1249 (10th Cir. 1998)(en banc)(employer wrongfully discharged employee to deny her pension benefits, in violation of ERISA section 510, 29 USC 1140).

Reynolds v. UNUM Life Insurance Company of America, et al., (No. 97-D-2325, D. Colo. 2000).

Hewlett-Packard Co. v. Diringer, 42 F. Supp. 2d 1038 (D. Colo. 1999).

Mein v. Pool Company Disabled Employee Long Term Disability Benefit Plan, 989 F. Supp. 1337 (D. Colo. 1998).

Murrough O'Brien, et al, v. Kaiser-Hill Company, LLC, et al, No. 97-Z-2017(D. Colo. 1999) (court approved class action settlement paying pension benefits with a present value of 3.45 million dollars to a class of 48 persons).

Aurora Police Pension Plan v. Zoeteway, No. 95-D-1693 (D. Colo. 1998) (Docket entry 81)(Granting employees Zoeteway, et al, MSJ that APPP violated contracts clause of US and Colorado constitutions by retroactively eliminating eligibility for disability pensions).

Finley v. Hewlett-Packard Company Income Protection Plan, 379 F.3d 1168 (10th Cir. 2004) Long term (28 years) employee who did manual labor her entire adult life for Hewlett- Packard, and in substantial pain from scoliosis of the spine not wrongfully denied disability benefits where HP fiduciaries said she could now do sedentary work-represented employee).

Speaker and Panelist, ERISA Issues

2000: National Employment Lawyers Association meeting (Denver chapter), September 22, 2000.

1999: Western Pension and Benefits Conference, Denver Chapter, Third Annual Winter Conference, February, 1999.

1998: COLORADO BAR ASSOCIATION 100TH ANNUAL CONVENTION, September, 1998, Keystone, Colorado.

1996: National Business Institute, Inc.(NBI), ERISA Litigation Seminar (April), Denver, Colorado

1993: ATLA Conference (April), Advocating For Disabled and Injured Workers, Washington, D.C.

1992, 1991: Midwinter Meetings of Committee on Individual Rights and Responsibilities, Section of Labor and Employment Law, American Bar Association.

1992: Monthly Meeting (May), Colorado chapter, National Employment Lawyers Association.

1992: Monthly Meeting (May), Committee on Labor and Employment, Colorado Bar Association.

1992: Colorado Trial Lawyers Association Employment Law Conference (April) (Written Materials Only).

1991 Annual Meeting, National Employment Lawyers Association (NELA).

1990 Annual Meeting, New York Chapter, National Employment Lawyers Association.

Committee on Employee Benefits, Section of Labor and Employment Law, American Bar Association.