• In Evans v. Sterling Chemicals, Inc., --- F.3d ----, No. 10-20493, 2011 WL 4837847 (5th Cir. Oct. 13, 2011), the Fifth Circuit held that an employer violated ERISA by increasing the cost of certain retirees' health care benefits. In so ruling, the court determined the employer's promise not to increase the cost of benefits in an asset purchase agreement with the retirees' former employer was a plan amendment and an independent obligation to the retirees, even if not so intended, because it (1) was in writing, (2) was directed to a provision of an ERISA plan, and (3) satisfied the plan's formal amendment procedures. The court also held that the employer's independent obligation survived the asset purchase agreement, which was assumed by the employer as part of a bankruptcy reorganization plan that provided that benefit obligations were assumed unless previously rejected.