It has been reported that there were many ERISA-covered retirement plans impacted by the Madoff-Ponzi scheme. As a result, the DOL issued a notice back in February (which you can access here) indicating that fiduciaries of ERISA plans should take "appropriate steps" to "assess and protect the interests of the plan and its participants and beneficiaries." The DOL then went on to include in the notice a list of "appropriate steps" for fiduciaries to take in fulfilling their duty to "assess and protect" the interests of plan participants. One of those steps included filing and asserting claims against the bankruptcy estate.
While the pension funds asserting their claims in the Chrysler sale are not ERISA plans (read about the claims being asserted here and here), the actions that were taken are a good illustration of what the terms "assess and protect" might mean in the ERISA context - that is, pursuing in court whatever legal claims are necessary to ensure that participants' interests are protected. In the Chrysler case, that pursuit followed a course that led all the way to the Supreme Court.
