The Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA), 29 U.S.C. §§ 1001-1461, provides, in pertinent part, that “a fiduciary shall discharge his duties with respect to a plan solely in the interest of the participants and beneficiaries . . . .” 29 U.S.C. § 1104(a)(1). In this putative class action appeal, plaintiff Anthony DeLuca and defendant Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan (BCBS... More...   $0 (12-08-2010 - MI)

Appellant John Schwalm (“Schwalm”) contends that Appellee Guardian Life Insurance Company of America’s (“Guardian”) decision to terminate his long-term disability benefits was arbitrary and capricious. See Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (“ERISA”) 29 U.S.C. §§ 1001–1461 (2006). The district court reviewed the administrative record, determined that Guardian’s dec... More...   $0 (11-17-2010 - OH)

[¶1] Terry Sanders appeals from the district court judgment dismissing his claim for enforcement of a deferred compensation agreement with Gravel Products, Inc. We hold Gravel Products complied with the plain and unambiguous language of the deferred compensation agreement, and we affirm.

I

[¶2] The relevant facts for this case are set forth in Sanders v. Gravel Products, Inc., ... More...   $0 (11-09-2010 - ND)

Richard and Karen Shook, husband and wife, filed suit against Avaya, Inc., Richard‟s former employer, alleging a violation of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA), 29 U.S.C. §§ 1104 and 1132. The Shooks contended that Avaya breached its fiduciary duty owed to them as participant and beneficiary under the Avaya Pension Plan through a series of misleading letters regarding... More...   $0 (11-02-2010 - PA)

Plaintiffs James Szoke and eighteen fellow employees1 appeal the judgment of the district court granting summary judgment to Defendant United Parcel Service of America, Inc. (“UPS America”) on their claims under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (“ERISA”), 29 U.S.C. § 1132(a)(1)(B) and the Age Discrimination in Employment Act (“ADEA”), 29 U.S.C. §§ 621 et seq. Appe... More...   $0 (10-07-2010 - OH)

This is a class action pursuant to ERISA by participants in an employer’s 401(k) plan against named and de facto fiduciaries of the plan. The participants appeal the district court’s order granting the fiduciaries’ summary judgment motion on the participants’ claims that the fiduciaries 1) imprudently invested plan assets in the employer’s stock; 2) negligently misrepresented and failed ... More...   $0 (09-30-2010 - CA)

In 2003, Rancho Santiago Community College District (“the District”) entered into a project labor agreement with the Los Angeles and Orange Counties Building and Construction Trades Council (“the Council”) and its affiliated construction unions that governed labor relations for many District construction projects over a three-to-five-year period. The agreement required, among other things,... More...   $0 (10-08-2010 - CA)

In 1991, RoJane Lewis obtained life insurance under a group policy issued by Hartford Life and Accident Insurance Company to her employer, Inacom Corporation. She submitted a beneficiary designation form granting sixty percent of the death benefit to her husband, Alan Lewis, and twenty percent to each of her daughters, Katherine and Kristina Matschiner. RoJane died in April 2005. When Hartford loc... More...   $0 (10-07-2010 - NE)

In 1991, RoJane Lewis obtained life insurance under a group policy issued by Hartford Life and Accident Insurance Company to her employer, Inacom Corporation. She submitted a beneficiary designation form granting sixty percent of the death benefit to her husband, Alan Lewis, and twenty percent to each of her daughters, Katherine and Kristina Matschiner. RoJane died in April 2005. When Hartford loc... More...   $0 (10-07-2010 - NE)

Six former Arkema, Inc. employees (Plaintiffs) sued Arkema, complaining that it denied them separation pay in violation of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA). The district court granted summary judgment in favor of Arkema, finding that their union’s release of its members’ ERISA claims barred Plaintiffs’ suit. We affirm.

I. Appellee Arkema operated a chemical plant ... More...   $0 (09-28-2010 - MI)

In this diversity case, Plaintiff Fred Flores appeals the district court’s grant of summary judgment to Defendant Monumental Life Insurance Company on Plaintiff’s claims of breach of contract, bad faith, and negligence per se.

BACKGROUND

Plaintiff Fred Flores and his wife, Sandra Flores, had two accidental death insurance certificates issued by Defendant, one certificate effe... More...   $0 (09-27-2010 - OK)

In this consolidated appeal, Janice F. Curry (“Curry”) appeals from two orders of the district court: one granting summary judgment to Eaton Corporation and Broadspire Services, Inc. (“Eaton” and “Broadspire,” respectively) in her ERISA denial-of-benefits claim, and one denying her subsequent Motion to Alter, Amend, or Vacate that summary judgment order. The appellees have appealed the... More...   $0 (09-20-2010 - KY)

Dennis Anderson appeals the district court’s denial of his ERISA claim for short-term disability benefits. Because we agree with the district court that the ERISA plan administrator did not abuse her discretion in denying the benefits, we affirm.

FACTS AND PROCEEDINGS

In 1976, Dennis Anderson began working at a chemical plant owned by Cytec Industries (Cytec) in Waggaman, Louisiana... More...   $0 (09-14-2010 - LA)

This is the second appeal from the certification of a consolidated “settlement only” nationwide class action that alleged an illegal home equity lending scheme involving two banks and a company that purchased second mortgage loans from them. Certain members of the class (the “Objectors”) contest the District Court’s decisions certifying that class and approving the class settlement. As i... More...   $0 (09-23-2010 - )

For over twenty years, a small group of 62 retirees, former plant maintenance workers and their spouses, have been receiving their health care coverage through Hayssen Manufacturing Company (“Hayssen”) and its successor, Bemis Company, Inc. (“Bemis”) as a result of a 1985 Plant Closing Agreement. In 2005, Bemis changed the insurance provider of its medical plan and made changes to deductib... More...   $0 (09-13-2010 - WI)

Dennis Anderson appeals the district court’s denial of his ERISA claim for short-term disability benefits. Because we agree with the district court that the ERISA plan administrator did not abuse her discretion in denying the benefits, we affirm.

FACTS AND PROCEEDINGS

In 1976, Dennis Anderson began working at a chemical plant owned by Cytec Industries (Cytec) in Waggaman, Louisiana... More...   $0 (09-14-2010 - LA)

The plaintiffs are a class of retirees from Raytheon and its predecessor, Hughes Missile Systems, along with their spouses and eligible dependents. Since 1972, Hughes, and later Raytheon, paid insurance premiums for healthcare coverage for early retirees until age 65 pursuant to a series of collective bargaining agreements (“CBAs”) with the plaintiffs’ union. In 2004, Raytheon limited its co... More...   $0 (09-09-2010 - )

Defendants Mellon Financial Corporation (“MFC”) and various MFC-related entities appeal the district court’s order granting Howley summary judgment on his claim for benefits under MFC’s Displacement Program. For the reasons that follow, we will affirm.

I.

Howley was employed for many years by a subsidiary of MFC known as “Buck Consultants.” He was therefore eligible for, ... More...   $0 (09-01-2010 - NJ)

Ms. Theresa Baggett appeals from a default judgment issued in favor of the Trustees of the Contractors, Laborers, Teamsters and Engineers Health & Welfare Plan and Pension Plan (“the Plans”) and the Laborers’ International Union of North America, Local 1140 (“the Union”) (collectively “the plaintiffs”). Ms. Baggett argues that the district court erred in granting the default judgment... More...   $0 (08-17-2010 - NE)

“People make mistakes. Even administrators of ERISA plans.” Conkright v. Frommert, 130 S. Ct. 1640, 1644 (2010). This introduction was fitting in Conkright, which dealt with a single honest mistake in the interpretation of an ERISA plan. It is perhaps an understatement in this case, which involves a devastating drafting error in the multi-billion-dollar plan administered by Verizon Communicati... More...   $0 (08-13-2010 - )

Thomas Jones received long-term disability benefits under an employee welfare benefit plan governed by the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (“ERISA”), 29 U.S.C. §§ 1001-1461. The plan is administered by ReliaStar Life Insurance Company (“ReliaStar”) through ING Employee Benefits (“ING”), an internal business division of ReliaStar. Jones sued ReliaStar and ING after ReliaStar b... More...   $0 (08-09-2010 - AR)

This case illustrates the difficult problems presented by claims for disability insurance by people with serious and painful conditions that do not have objectively measurable symptoms. Plaintiff Lanette Holmstrom worked as a senior training specialist at a large credit management company. She participated in an employee welfare benefit plan administered by defendant Metropolitan Life Insurance Co... More...   $0 (08-07-2010 - IL)

Cindy Rote has been seeking long-term disability benefits from Titan Tire Corporation (“Titan”) for over eight years. Rote began working at Titan’s plant on November 7, 1984, and joined the union. In 1997, Rote had surgeries to replace the joints in both of her thumbs. In April 1998, while she was still recovering from surgery, the union went on strike. The strike ended in October 2001. Rote... More...   $0 (07-28-2010 - IA)

After Attorney's Process and Investigation Services, Inc. (API), a Wisconsin corporation which provides security and consulting services to casino operators, was sued in tribal court by the Sac and Fox Tribe of the Mississippi in Iowa (the Tribe), API brought this action seeking a declaratory judgment that the tribal court lacked jurisdiction and an order compelling arbitration. The Tribe's lawsui... More...   $0 (07-07-2010 - IA)

This case arose after CUNA Mutual Insurance Society ("CUNA") stopped paying long-term disability benefits to the appellant, Barbara Gent. CUNA ceased its payments after determining that Gent was subject to the "mental illness limitation" in its policy. Under this limitation, an insured who is disabled due to a mental illness may not receive disability benefits for more than two years. Gent took s... More...   $0 (07-12-2010 - MA)