Law360 (October 1, 2020, 7:20 PM EDT) — An Alabama federal judge let Allstate off the hook in two proposed ERISA class actions claiming the insurer wrongly terminated lifetime insurance benefits for certain retirees, ruling the insurer was within its rights.

In her opinion Wednesday, U.S. District Judge Emily C. Marks granted Allstate Insurance Co. summary judgment in the Employee Retirement Income Security Act suits brought by former employees challenging the insurer’s decision to cancel retiree life insurance benefits.

Judge Marks found the governing plan documents unambiguously reserved the insurer’s ability to modify the benefits and explicitly said plan participants didn’t have vested rights. Moreover, the judge agreed with…