Opinion ID: 215729
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: introduction

Text: The issue presented by this appeal, which arises out of a suit brought by Plaintiff-Appellant Augusta Edwards against Defendant-Appellee Briggs & Stratton Retirement Plan (the Plan) for benefits due under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA), 29 U.S.C. §§ 1001 et seq., is straightforward: whether the Plan should have excused the fact that Edwards's administrative appeal from a denial of her claim for disability benefits by the Plan was approximately eleven days late. The issue concerns, of course, whether Edwards exhausted her administrative remedies as a predicate to filing suit under ERISA in federal court. Finding that Edwards failed to exhaust, the district court dismissed the case on summary judgment. Because we find no error in the district court's decision, the decision is affirmed.