Mealey's (March 16, 2016, 2:10 PM EDT) -- NEW ORLEANS — In a March 11 amicus curiae brief, Secretary of Labor M. Patricia Smith told the Fifth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals that a consolidated Employee Retirement Income Security Act action against BP PLC satisfies the pleading standard set in Fifth Third Bancorp v. Dudenhoeffer (134 S. Ct. 2459 [2014]) and should proceed (Ralph Whitley, et al. v. BP PLC, et al., No. 15-20282, 5th Cir.)....