29 U.S.C. § 1141
Section 1141 · Coercive interference
This is § 511 of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974
Amended 2 times on record
Applied in 20 court decisions — leading case Lojek v. Thomas (1983)
Most recently applied in Turner Industries Group, LLC v. International Union of Operating Engineers, Local 450 (May 2014)
How often courts cite this section
Court decisions citing this, by year.Markers show enactment, consequential amendments, and circuit splits over this section — watch for a citation surge after a change or a disagreement. The dip in the last several years is a data-coverage gap, not a real trend — our corpus holds fewer opinions from the most recent years, so recent citations are undercounted.
It shall be unlawful for any person through the use of fraud, force, violence, or threat of the use of force or violence, to restrain, coerce, intimidate, or attempt to restrain, coerce, or intimidate any participant or beneficiary for the purpose of interfering with or preventing the exercise of any right to which he is or may become entitled under the plan, this subchapter, section 1201 of this title, or the Welfare and Pension Plans Disclosure Act [29 U.S.C. 301 et seq.]. Any person who willfully violates this section shall be fined $100,000 or imprisoned for not more than 10 years, or both.
Editorial notes U.S. Code · Office of the Law Revision Counsel
References in Text
The Welfare and Pension Plans Disclosure Act, referred to in text, is Pub. L. 85–836, Aug. 28, 1958, 72 Stat. 997, as amended, which was classified generally to chapter 10 (§301 et seq.) of this title, and was repealed by Pub. L. 93–406, title I, §111(a)(1), Sept. 2, 1974, 88 Stat. 851 (Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974), effective Jan. 1, 1975. Such section 111(a)(1) also provided that the Welfare and Pension Plans Disclosure Act should continue to apply to any conduct and events which occurred before Jan. 1, 1975 (see section 1031 of this title). For complete classification of the Welfare and Pension Plans Disclosure Act to the Code prior to such repeal, see Tables.
Amendments
2006—Pub. L. 109–280 substituted “$100,000” for “$10,000” and “10 years” for “one year”.
Effective Date of 2006 Amendment
Pub. L. 109–280, title VI, §623(b), Aug. 17, 2006, 120 Stat. 979, provided that: “The amendments made by this section [amending this section] shall apply to violations occurring on and after the date of the enactment of this Act [Aug. 17, 2006].”
Regulations
Secretary authorized, effective Sept. 2, 1974, to promulgate regulations wherever provisions of this subchapter call for the promulgation of regulations, see section 1031 of this title.