Your Rights Under TERISA

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You should contact your plan administrator at the address shown in “Other Plan Details” if you have any questions about:
•  your plan,
•  this statement, or
•  your rights under TERISA.

As a participant in MPTN Plans, you are entitled to certain rights and protections under the Tribal Employee Retirement Income Security Act (TERISA) with regard to the plans subject to TERISA. TERISA provides that all plan participants shall be entitled to:

• examine, without charge, at the plan administrator’s office and at other specified locations, such as worksites, all documents governing the plan, including insurance contracts, and a copy of the latest annual report (Form 5500 Series) filed by the plan with the U.S. Department of Labor. (These documents are available at Human Resources or at your own work location upon written request to the Senior Vice President, Human Resources.)
• obtain, upon written request to the plan administrator, copies of documents governing the operation of the plan, including insurance contracts, and copies of the latest annual report (Form 5500 Series) and updated summary plan descriptions. (The administrator may charge you a reasonable fee for the copies.)
• continue health care coverage for yourself or your family members if there is a loss of coverage under the plan as a result of a qualifying event. (You or your family members may have to pay for such coverage. Review this summary plan description and the documents governing the plan on the rules governing your MPTN COBRA continuation coverage rights.)

In addition to creating rights for plan participants, TERISA imposes duties upon the people who are responsible for the operation of the team member benefit plan. The people who operate your plan, called “fiduciaries” of the plan, have a duty to do so prudently and in the interest of you and other plan participants and beneficiaries.

No one, including your employer or any other person, may fire you or otherwise discriminate against you in any way to prevent you from obtaining a plan benefit or exercising your rights under TERISA. If your claim for a plan benefit is denied in whole or in part, you must receive a written explanation of the reason for the denial and have a right to obtain without charge copies of documents relating to the decision. You also have the right to have the plan review and reconsider your claim, as described under “Claims Review and Appeals Procedures” within this section.

Under TERISA, you can take steps to enforce these rights. For instance, if you request materials from the plan and do not receive them within 30 days, you may file suit, pursuant to Title XV, Mashantucket Pequot Tribal Law, in the Mashantucket Pequot Tribal Court. In such a case, the court may require the plan administrator to provide the materials and pay up to $110 a day until you receive the materials, unless the materials were not sent because of reasons beyond the control of the plan administrator.

You may also file suit within one year after the date on which the applicable incident described below occurred, pursuant to Title XV, Mashantucket Pequot Tribal Law, in the Mashantucket Pequot Tribal Court if you:

• have a claim for benefits that is denied or ignored, in whole or in part,
• disagree with the plan’s decision or lack thereof concerning the qualified status of a domestic relations order or a medical child support order,
• believe that plan fiduciaries have misused the plan’s money, or
• believe that you have been discriminated against for asserting your rights.

The court will decide who should pay court costs and legal fees. If your suit is successful, the court may order the person you have sued to pay these costs and fees. However, if your suit is unsuccessful — because, for example, the court finds your claim frivolous — the court may order you to pay these costs and fees on your own.

A TERISA plan does not give you the right to be retained as an employee. This Plan Document and SPD is not a contract for or a guarantee of present or continued employment. You should retain this summary and refer to it as questions arise concerning your participation in the plan. However, should there ever be any discrepancy between this booklet and the official text of the applicable MPTN Plan, or should there ever be any claim that involves interpretation of such documents, the applicable MPTN Plan and not this Plan Document and SPD will control.