SAN FRANCISCO – A former CEO of a bank is suing his former employer over allegations of a failure to pay benefits due.
Steven K. Buster filed a complaint on March 8 in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California against the compensation committee of the board of directors of Mechanics Bank; Mechanics Bank Supplemental Executive Retirement Plan and Mechanics Bank, citing violation of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act.
According to the complaint, the plaintiff alleges that he served as president and CEO of the Mechanics Bank between July 2004 and December 2012 and participated in a supplemental executive retirement plan. The suit states he was induced to execute an agreement to terminate his employment with the bank in 2012, but was told that the agreement would not affect pension benefits. When he turned 65 in 2015 and sought his pension benefits, he alleges that the bank denied liability and stated he waived the benefits with the 2012 agreement.
The plaintiff seeks the following: an order for the bank to honor its obligation under the SERP benefits of $8,540.36 per month, all legal fees and any other relief as the court deems just and proper. He is represented by Charles M. Louderback and Stacey L. Pratt of Louderback Law Group in San Francisco.
U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California Case number 3:16-cv-01146-MEJ