SIOUX FALLS, S.D. -- A federal judge has dismissed a lawsuit seeking to keep Kevin Schieffer from arbitrating a severance package with his former employer, the Dakota, Minnesota & Eastern Railroad, reports the Associated Press.
U.S. District Judge Roberto Lange said in a ruling Wednesday that the courts don't have jurisdiction and he granted Schieffer's request to dismiss the lawsuit.
Schieffer left as DM&E president in 2008 after the company was bought by Canadian Pacific Railway.
Earlier this year he demanded arbitration over what he said was a $4 million miscalculation in his severance package.
The DM&E sued to force the dispute into federal court, but Lange said he lacks jurisdiction because Schieffer's employment agreement is not covered by the federal Employee Retirement Income Security Act as the DM&E asserts.
(The preceding report was distributed June 16, 2010, by the Associated Press.)
(The Associated Press circulated the following on August 4, 2010.)
SIOUX FALLS, S.D. The Dakota, Minnesota & Eastern Railroad is fighting a request that it pay $23,000 in attorney fees and court costs for former company president Kevin Schieffer.
The DM&E took Schieffer to court in a dispute over severance pay and benefits. A judge ruled in June that he doesn't have jurisdiction and granted Schieffer's request to dismiss the lawsuit.
The DM&E says Schieffer can't ask a judge to award him attorney fees for a case in which the court doesn't have jurisdiction.
Schieffer left as DM&E president after Canadian Pacific Railway bought the company. He demanded arbitration over what he said was a $4 million miscalculation in his severance package.
