Plaintiff Taylor Chevrolet, Inc. (“Taylor”) sued Defendant Medical Mutual Services LLC (“Medical Mutual”) in Ohio state court, alleging breach of contract, breach of fiduciary duty, and other state law claims. Medical Mutual removed the suit to federal district court, contending that Taylor’s claims were completely preempted by the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (“ERIS... More...   $0 (12-22-2008 - OH)

Appellants, Sam Martinez, Frank Dickson, and Ron Rocha, challenge the trial court’s denial of their motion to strike the defamation complaint filed by respondent, John Hailstone, as a strategic lawsuit against public participation (SLAPP) under Code of Civil Procedure1 section 425.16. The trial court concluded that the alleged defamatory statements did not concern an issue of public interest and... More...   $0 (12-23-2008 - CA)

The Hartford Life Insurance Company (Hartford) terminated Geral R. Brown’s long term disability benefits. He sued Hartford under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974, 29 U.S.C. § 1132 (ERISA). The district court upheld Hartford’s termination of his benefits. He appeals. We reverse and remand for further proceedings.

BACKGROUND

FedEx Freight East, Inc. (FedEx) empl... More...   $0 (12-05-2008 - OK)

Plaintiff Cherilyn Kellogg brought this action against defendants Metropolitan Life Insurance Company and Pfizer Accidental Death and Dismemberment Insurance Plan, claiming she was wrongly denied accidental death and dismemberment benefits under an employee welfare benefit plan regulated by the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA), as amended, 29 U.S.C. §§ 1001-1461. Cherilyn ... More...   $0 (12-04-2008 - UT)

In this attorney negligence case, plaintiffs OFS Fitel LLC and OFS BrightWave LLC (collectively, “Fitel”) appeal the district court’s final judgment of dismissal, contending the district court abused its discretion in imposing discovery sanctions. Defendant Epstein, Becker & Green, P.C. (“EBG”) moved to dismiss the appeal for lack of jurisdiction. After review and oral argument, we concl... More...   $0 (11-30--0001 - GA)

General Motors appeals the district court’s judgment in favor of George Smiljanich on a theory of equitable estoppel and its award of attorneys’ fees. We affirm the district court’s decision on Smiljanich’s equitable estoppel claim, and reverse the grant of attorneys’ fees for services performed prior to June 22, 2006.

I.

George Smiljanich began working for General Motors C... More...   $0 (12-05-2008 - MI)

This is an appeal by Island View Residential Treatment Center ("Island View"), S.S.E. ("Stacy") and S.A.F. ("Sarah") seeking to recover from Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts ("Blue Cross") the cost of in-patient care furnished by Island View to Sarah, then a teenage patient. The background events are not in real dispute and, as the case turns in the end on a limitations issue, a detailed de... More...   $0 (11-24-2008 - MA)

This is an appeal from a judgment of the district court granting a motion to dismiss plaintiffs’ action against UNUM Life Insurance Company of America (“UNUM”). Plaintiffs Roy Mogel, Todd D. Lindsay and Joseph R. Thorley, who are beneficiaries under employee welfare benefit plans, brought this action on behalf of themselves and a class of beneficiaries. They allege breaches of fiduciary duti... More...   $0 (11-06-2008 - MA)

Elizabeth J. Louviere and Kevon M. Louviere appeal the summary judgment granted in favor of Hearst Corporation, Hearst Newspapers Partnership, II, L.P., d/b/a Beaumont Enterprise, Craig Stark, and David Pero. The Louvieres contend the trial court erred in granting judgment for the defendants on Elizabeth Louviere's Sabine Pilot claim of wrongful discharge. See Sabine Pilot Serv., Inc. v. Hauck, 6... More...   $0 (10-31-2008 - TX)

These consolidated cases involve a dispute between a group of entities vying for the right to develop a casino in the Catskills with the non-party Mohawk Indian Tribe (“the Tribe”). As explained further below, plaintiffs-appellants Catskill Development, L.L.C. (“Catskill”), Mohawk Management, L.L.C. (“Mohawk”), and Monticello Raceway Development Company, L.L.C. (“Monticello”), and ... More...   $0 (10-21-2008 - NY)

The plaintiffs in this suit under both ERISA and the Taft-Hartley Act charge the defendants, an employer and a welfare benefits plan, with having violated provisions of an ERISA plan contained in a collective bargaining agreement between the employer (Council 24 of the Wisconsin State Employees Union) and the union that represented Mr. Orth. The district judge granted summary judgment for the plai... More...   $0 (10-23-2008 - WI)

The plaintiff, Sandra Leister, and the Petersons (the individual defendants) were employed by a company that sells “employee assistance programs” to employers; the programs provide counseling for troubled employees. In 1997 the Petersons bought some of their employer’s employee-assistanceprogram contracts and created the corporate defendant, Dovetail, of which the Petersons are the sole owne... More...   $0 (10-23-2008 - IL)

Plaintiff-appellant Raymond Vaught appeals the district court’s grant of summary judgment in favor of defendantappellee Scottsdale Healthcare Corp. Health Plan (the Plan), Vaught’s health plan. The Plan is governed by the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA). After denying Vaught’s claim for benefits, the Plan declined to grant Vaught’s requests for internal review of th... More...   $0 (09-29-2008 - AZ)

Appellants Rosalind Herman, Gregg Caplitz and Financial Resources Network, Inc. ("FRNI") filed suit in Massachusetts state court against appellees Rudy K. Meiselman and various members of his family. The suit stemmed from Meiselman's employment with FRNI and his participation in a profit-sharing plan under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 ("ERISA"). Meiselman removed the matter ... More...   $0 (09-10-2008 - MA)

Before the court is Liberty Life Assurance Company of Boston’s petition for rehearing en banc of our opinion in Doyle v. Liberty Life Assurance Co. of Boston, 511 F.3d 1336 (11th Cir. 2008). About the time Liberty Life filed this petition, the Supreme Court of the United States granted certiorari in a case from the United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit involving an issue we admoni... More...   $0 (09-18-2008 - FL)

Plaintiff Kim Roumeliote filed a complaint for declaratory judgment and damages under the Employment Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (“ERISA”), 29 U.S.C. §§ 1001-1461, after she was denied long-term disability benefits under a plan administered by Unum Life Insurance Company of America (“Unum”) and sponsored by her employer, Worthington Industries. The district court granted summa... More...   $0 (09-11-2008 - OH)

This case requires us to consider whether a former employee who has received a full distribution of his or her account balance under a defined contribution pension plan has standing as a plan participant to file suit under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA), 29 U.S.C. § 1001 et seq., to recover losses occasioned by a breach of fiduciary duty that allegedly reduced the amo... More...   $0 (09-19-2008 - CA)

Cara Burke appeals the district court’s order granting summary judgment to Pitney Bowes Inc. Long-Term Disability Plan on Burke’s claims arising from the Plan Employee Benefits Committee’s termination of her long-term disability benefits. We have jurisdiction pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1291, and we vacate and remand for further proceedings consistent with this opinion and the Supreme Court’s... More...   $0 (09-24-2008 - CA)

In this appeal we consider whether a plan administrator’s reduction of benefits under a long-term-disability plan based on a participant’s receipt of Social Security disability benefits is reasonable and entitled to deference. Frankie White and Leon Warner appeal the summary judgment against their complaints for benefits under the Coca-Cola Company Long Term Disability Income Plan, which is go... More...   $0 (09-10-2008 - GA)

Before the court is Liberty Life Assurance Company of Boston’s petition for rehearing en banc of our opinion in Doyle v. Liberty Life Assurance Co. of Boston, 2 511 F.3d 1336 (11th Cir. 2008). About the time Liberty Life filed this petition, the Supreme Court of the United States granted certiorari in a case from the United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit involving an issue we admo... More...   $0 (09-18-2008 - FL)

Petitioner-appellants, a group of pharmacies, health care providers, senior citizens’ groups, and Medi-Cal beneficiaries (collectively “ILC”),1 seek to enjoin a state official from implementing legislation reducing payments to medical service providers under the state’s Medicaid program, known as “Medi-Cal,” by ten percent. ILC alleged in its complaint that the state legislation violat... More...   $0 (09-19-2008 - CA)

In 1996, coronary artery disease forced Nancy Pannebecker to quit her lucrative job as a laboratory and department manager for Hughes Electronics Corporation. Pannebecker began receiving benefits under Hughes’s long-term disability plan (“Plan”), which was governed by the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (“ERISA”). After paying benefits for over three years, Liberty Life A... More...   $0 (09-19-2008 - AR)

Plaintiff Larry G. Jones was a participant in a long-term disability plan (the “plan”) provided by Mountaire Corporation (“Mountaire”) and established pursuant to the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (“ERISA”), 29 U.S.C. § 1001 et seq. Mountaire’s plan was insured by Prudential Insurance Company of America (“Prudential”), which was also the claims administrator. J... More...   $0 (09-11-2008 - AR)

Defendant-Appellant General Electric Group Life Assurance Company (“GE”) appeals from a summary judgment order obligating it to pay death benefits to Plaintiff-Appellee Larry Weber, the widower of Shelley Clark Weber. GE, the administrator and fiduciary of group insurance plans available to the employees of Winner Communications, Inc. (“Winner”), including Mrs. Weber, argues that Mrs. Webe... More...   $0 (09-15-2008 - OK)

In this civil enforcement action, the Securities and Exchange Commission (“Commission” or “SEC”) charged that Jon R. Marple (“Marple”) and Grateful Internet Associates, LLC (“Grateful”),1 violated Section 10(b) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (“§ 10(b)”), 15 U.S.C. § 78j(b); Commission Rule 10b-5 (“Rule 10b-5”), 17 C.F.R. § 240.10b-5; and Section 17(a) of the Secu... More...   $0 (09-02-2008 - UT)