Justia ERISA Opinion Summaries

In 2009, ManWeb, an Indianapolis industrial construction company, paid $259,360 for the assets of Frieje, a smaller Indianapolis construction company specializing in cold‐storage facilities. Freije was a party to a collective bargaining agreement (CBA); ManWeb was non‐union. Freije contributed to a multi-employer pension fund and was required to pay withdrawal liability of $661,978 when it ceased operations (Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA); Multiemployer Pension Plan Amendments Act (MPPAA), 29 U.S.C. 1381). ManWeb did not contribute to the Fund after its purchase of Freije nor did it challenge the assessment. The Fund sued Freije and added ManWeb as a defendant based on successor liability. The Seventh Circuit concluded that ManWeb had notice of Freije’s contingent withdrawal liability, which was included in the Asset Purchase Agreement. On remand, the district court again granted ManWeb summary judgment. The Seventh Circuit vacated. MPPAA successor liability can apply when the purchaser had notice of the liability and there is continuity of business operations. In the totality of relevant circumstances, ManWeb’s purchase and use of Freije’s intangible assets (name, goodwill, trademarks, supplier and customer data, trade secrets, telephone numbers and websites) and its retention of Freije’s principals to promote ManWeb to existing and potential customers as carrying on the Freije business, weigh more heavily in favor of successor liability than the district court recognized. View "Indiana Electrical Workers Pension Benefit Fund v. ManWeb Services, Inc." on Justia Law

The plaintiffs, former employees at Honeywell’s Boyne City, Michigan auto parts plant, were represented by the UAW while working. The collective bargaining agreement (CBA) between that union and Honeywell that became effective in 2011 and expired in 2016 stated: Retirees under age 65 who are covered under the BC/BS Preferred Medical Plan will continue to be covered under the Plan, until age 65, by payment of 16% of the retiree monthly premium costs ... as adjusted year to year,” Article 19.7.4. The plaintiffs took early retirement under the 2011 CBA and received Honeywell-sponsored healthcare, consistent with Article 19.7.4. Other Boyne City employees had retired before the 2011 CBA took effect, but were still eligible for benefits under Article 19.7.4. In 2015, Honeywell notified the UAW and the Boyne City retirees that it planned to terminate retiree medical benefits upon the 2011 CBA’s expiration. The plaintiffs, citing the Labor Management Relations Act, the Employment Retirement Income Security Act, and Michigan common law estoppel, obtained a preliminary injunction. The Sixth Circuit reversed, reasoning that the CBA did not clearly provide an alternative end date to the CBA’s general durational clause, so the plaintiffs have not shown a likelihood of success on the merits. View "Cooper v. Honeywell International, Inc." on Justia Law

The Fifth Circuit granted en banc review of this case to reconsider Pierre v. Conn. Gen. Life Ins. Co., 932 F.2d 1552, 1562 (5th Cir. 1991), and to determine the default standard of review that applies when a beneficiary challenges a plan denial based on a factual determination of ineligibility. The court held that the Texas insurance code provision only renders discretionary clauses unenforceable, but does not attempt to prescribe the standard of review for federal courts deciding Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) cases. The court overruled Pierre and held that Firestone Tire & Rubber Co. v. Bruch's, 489 U.S. 101, 115 (1989), default de novo standard applied when the denial was based on a factual determination. The court held that Vega v. National Life Insurance Services, Inc., 188 F.3d 287 (5th Cir. 1999), will continue to provide the guiding principles on the scope of the record for future cases that apply de novo review to fact-based benefit denials. Therefore, the court vacated and remanded for the district court to apply the de novo standard of review. View "Ariana M. v. Humana Health Plan of Texas, Inc." on Justia Law

A plan administrator is not an Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) fiduciary when negotiating its compensation with a prospective customer. The Ninth Circuit reversed the district court's order denying defendants' motion to dismiss an action alleging breach of fiduciary duties in connection with a retirement plan. The panel held that defendant was not a fiduciary with respect to its receipt of revenue sharing payments from investment managers because the payments were fully disclosed before the provider agreements were signed and did not come from plan assets. The panel agreed with other circuits and held that defendant also was not a fiduciary with respect to its withdrawal of preset fees from plan funds. The panel explained that when a service provider's definitively calculable and nondiscretionary compensation was clearly set forth in a contract with the fiduciary-employer, collection of fees out of plan funds in strict adherence to that contractual term was not a breach of the provider’s fiduciary duty. The panel vacated class certification orders and remanded with instructions to dismiss the complaint. View "Santomenno v. Transamerica Life Insurance Co." on Justia Law

A plan administrator is not an Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) fiduciary when negotiating its compensation with a prospective customer. The Ninth Circuit reversed the district court's order denying defendants' motion to dismiss an action alleging breach of fiduciary duties in connection with a retirement plan. The panel held that defendant was not a fiduciary with respect to its receipt of revenue sharing payments from investment managers because the payments were fully disclosed before the provider agreements were signed and did not come from plan assets. The panel agreed with other circuits and held that defendant also was not a fiduciary with respect to its withdrawal of preset fees from plan funds. The panel explained that when a service provider's definitively calculable and nondiscretionary compensation was clearly set forth in a contract with the fiduciary-employer, collection of fees out of plan funds in strict adherence to that contractual term was not a breach of the provider’s fiduciary duty. The panel vacated class certification orders and remanded with instructions to dismiss the complaint. View "Santomenno v. Transamerica Life Insurance Co." on Justia Law

In this certified class action brought under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA), the district court correctly concluded that Plaintiffs failed to adduce evidence necessary to proceed to trial.Plaintiffs sued Fidelity Management Trust Company, the fiduciary for a fund in which Plaintiffs had invested, arguing that Fidelity breached its duties of loyalty and prudence in managing the fund. The district court granted summary judgment for Fidelity, finding that Plaintiffs’ arguments lacked the evidentiary support needed to survive summary judgment. The First Circuit affirmed, holding (1) the district court employed the correct legal test in its evaluation of the evidence; and (2) the district court correctly held that Plaintiffs had presented insufficient evidence to proceed to trial on their claims of disloyalty and imprudence. View "Ellis v. Fidelity Management Trust Co." on Justia Law

Dragus, who managed information technology for convention vendors, experienced severe neck pain for several years. He underwent a three-level cervical spine fusion, which failed to resolve his pain. Over the next two years, Dragus underwent physical therapy, steroid injections, and a surgical procedure that severs nerve roots in the spinal cord. Physicians also prescribed a pain medication, which caused memory impairment and hand tremors. Dragus went on short-term disability to participate in a full-time pain management program. Within two months of Dragus’s return to work, the pain returned, resulting in excessive absences. Dragus sought long-term disability benefits through a Reliance group policy and applied for Social Security Disability (SSDI) benefits. Reliance denied Dragus’ application, stating that reports by medical experts did not indicate a physical or mental condition at a level of severity that would make Dragus unable to perform the material duties of his regular occupation. Dragus requested reconsideration. Reliance obtained additional medical opinions and independent review by a psychiatrist and occupational medicine specialist. Dragus was allowed to correspond with the specialists. Reliance affirmed its denial. Dragus filed suit under ERISA, 29 U.S.C. 1132(a)(1)(B)). The court denied Dragus’s motions for discovery outside the claim file record and to supplement the claim record with a fully favorable SSDI decision and granted summary judgment in favor of Reliance. The Seventh Circuit affirmed. The policy grants Reliance discretionary review; Reliance’s decision was not arbitrary. View "Dragus v. Reliance Standard Life Insurance Co." on Justia Law

Dragus, who managed information technology for convention vendors, experienced severe neck pain for several years. He underwent a three-level cervical spine fusion, which failed to resolve his pain. Over the next two years, Dragus underwent physical therapy, steroid injections, and a surgical procedure that severs nerve roots in the spinal cord. Physicians also prescribed a pain medication, which caused memory impairment and hand tremors. Dragus went on short-term disability to participate in a full-time pain management program. Within two months of Dragus’s return to work, the pain returned, resulting in excessive absences. Dragus sought long-term disability benefits through a Reliance group policy and applied for Social Security Disability (SSDI) benefits. Reliance denied Dragus’ application, stating that reports by medical experts did not indicate a physical or mental condition at a level of severity that would make Dragus unable to perform the material duties of his regular occupation. Dragus requested reconsideration. Reliance obtained additional medical opinions and independent review by a psychiatrist and occupational medicine specialist. Dragus was allowed to correspond with the specialists. Reliance affirmed its denial. Dragus filed suit under ERISA, 29 U.S.C. 1132(a)(1)(B)). The court denied Dragus’s motions for discovery outside the claim file record and to supplement the claim record with a fully favorable SSDI decision and granted summary judgment in favor of Reliance. The Seventh Circuit affirmed. The policy grants Reliance discretionary review; Reliance’s decision was not arbitrary. View "Dragus v. Reliance Standard Life Insurance Co." on Justia Law

Caroline Burton and Brenda Olivar submitted claims for long-term disability benefits to insurance companies under employee-benefits plans set up by their employers (“the Plans”). The insurance companies denied Burton’s and Olivar’s claims. Burton and Olivar sued the Plans under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (“ERISA”) for benefits due to them under the insurance policies. But neither served the Plans. Rather, they each served complaints on the United States Department of Labor Secretary, relying on an ERISA provision allowing such service when a plan hasn’t designated “an individual” as an agent for service of process. In both cases, the Labor Secretary never forwarded the complaint to the Plans’ designated agents for service of process, the Plans failed to answer, and Burton and Olivar obtained default judgments in their favor. Eventually, the Plans moved to set aside the default judgments for improper service, which the trial courts granted in both cases. Later, the Plans moved for summary judgment, arguing the insurers, which were obligated to make all eligibility determinations and payments under the Plans’ terms, were the only proper party defendants. The trial courts agreed, granting the Plans summary judgment. A division of the court of appeals affirmed. The issue presented to the Colorado Supreme Court for resolution centered on whether ERISA’s use of the term “individual” provided that service on the Labor Secretary was sufficient when a plan designates a corporation (instead of a natural person) as its administrator and agent for service of process. Finding no reversible error in the district court’s judgment, the Supreme Court affirmed. View "Burton v. Colorado Access & No." on Justia Law

The Fifth Circuit affirmed the district court's dismissal of a putative class action alleging that the RadioShack board of directors and plan administrative committee breached their fiduciary duties under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA), 29 U.S.C. 1001 et seq. Plaintiffs alleged that defendants violated ERISA by allowing plan participants to invest in RadioShack stock despite the company's descent into bankruptcy. The court held that the complaint did not plausibly state any fiduciary claims with respect to the Plan and that plaintiffs did not have standing to bring claims regarding the Puerto Rico Plan. View "Singh v. RadioShack Corp." on Justia Law