161763P.pdf   01/05/2018  James Boyd  v.  ConAgra Foods, Inc.
   U.S. Court of Appeals Case No:  16-1763
                          and No:  16-3443
   U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Missouri - St. Louis   
   [PUBLISHED] [Melloy, Author, with Wollman and Gruender, Circuit Judges] 
   Civil case - ERISA. In action to recover severance benefits based on a 
   claim that defendant, after acquiring Ralcorp, plaintiff's former 
   employer, had materially reduced his position, duties or responsibilities, 
   thereby allowing him to self-terminate and obtain the benefits, the 
   district court did not err in reviewing the Plan Administrator's decision 
   under an abuse-of-discretion standard; giving any potential conflict of 
   interest defendant had as both the plan sponsor and administrator some 
   weight, the decision that plaintiff lacked good reason to self-terminate 
   his employment was reasonable and was not an abuse of the Plan 
   Administrator's discretion; the district court did not err in finding 
   defendant did not breach a fiduciary duty to plaintiff as plaintiff did 
   not show that he had right to reasonable rely on a claimed misstatement; 
   the law suit was not frivolous, and plaintiff was entitled, under the 
   provisions of the Plan, to recover his attorney's fees.