Beruflich Dokumente
Kultur Dokumente
Before
Howard, Selya, and Lipez, Circuit Judges.
of
1974
("ERISA"),
29
U.S.C.
1132(a)(1),
theory
of
dismissed the ERISA and contract claims, holding that Guerra could
not be awarded relief under the terms of BPPR's retirement plan and
that ERISA preempted the commonwealth law claims. After discovery,
the district court granted summary judgment against Guerra on the
estoppel claim, holding that estoppel could not apply where the
terms of the benefits plan were unambiguous.
with BPPR in 1990, Banco de Ponce was not affiliated with BPPR
during Guerra's tenure there.
during
worked
that
period
he
three
jobs
part-time:
as
an
Guerra
worked in the same office, and performed the same work, he was
technically
an
employee
of
BPNA
from
January
1999
until
he
asked if the period from 1980 onwards was still being credited
-3-
[i.e., the period Guerra worked in New York for the new BPNA
entity], these years of service will be considered as years of
eligibility for purposes of the . . . Plan."
estimates did not govern the final benefits calculation, and that
the official policies of the company's retirement plan would
govern.
In 2005, BPPR's benefits structure changed.
Employees
who had accrued fewer than ten years of benefits had their benefits
frozen and received an eleven percent pay raise. Employees who had
accrued more than ten years of benefits continued to accrue
-4-
Even though
Guerra did not actually begin working for BPPR until 1997, he
received the latter deal because he had, according to BPPR's
records, accrued over twenty years of pension benefits by that
time.
In 2008, Guerra contacted the BPPR Benefits Department to
determine what his benefits would be if he retired early.
On
Guerra subsequently
There,
representative
from
the
BPPR
Benefits
-5-
Over a
month later, however, Guerra still had not heard from BPPR, nor had
he received any pension payment.
The
(1) April 29, 1997 through December 31, 1998 (the period Guerra
worked for BPPR in New York, up to the time it became BPNA); and
(2) January 18, 2000 through December 31, 2005 (the period Guerra
worked for BPPR in Puerto Rico, up to the time BPPR discontinued
its benefits program for employees who had accrued fewer than ten
years of credit).
worked for BPNA in New York and the seventeen years he had worked
for other firms. In the same letter, Guerra was offered $18,137.90
in back pay because he had not accrued more than ten years of
credit by December 31, 2005, and therefore should have received an
eleven percent raise instead of a three percent raise.
Guerra
-6-
He advanced
granted the motion in part, holding, inter alia, that Guerra had
failed to state a claim under ERISA 502(a)(1) and that ERISA
commonwealth
claims.2
preempted
the
survived.
Only
the
estoppel
claim
II.
A. Motion to Dismiss
We review the order granting a Rule 12(b)(6) motion de
novo.
In
Tasker v. DHL Ret. Sav. Plan, 621 F.3d 34, 38 (1st Cir.
2010).
Ocasio-Hernndez v. Fortuo-
the
benefits
502(a)(1)(B).
due
to
[him]
under
the
Plan"
per
ERISA
-8-
to
benefits
under
the
terms
of
For Guerra to be
the
Plan,
those
See 29 U.S.C.
1992).
Similarly,
of
the
written
documents
Guerra
of
Guerra's
pension
benefits.5
Since
it
is
not
plausible that the Plan was amended by these documents, the relief
Guerra seeks does not flow from the terms of the Plan.
He
Ann.
tit.
31,
2994,
3015.
Article
1044
states,
ERISA preempts
"any and all State laws insofar as they may . . . relate to any
employee benefit plan." 29 U.S.C. 1144(a). "[A] cause of action
'relates to' an ERISA plan when a court must evaluate or interpret
the terms of the ERISA-regulated plan to determine liability under
the state law cause of action . . . [as well as] where the damages
must be calculated using the terms of an ERISA plan."
W.R. Grace & Co., 202 F.3d 44, 52 (1st Cir. 2000).
Hampers v.
A law is
letter does not purport to amend the Plan and operates from the
uncontestedly mistaken factual premise that Guerra worked for BPNA
from 1980 to 1998.
-10-
Zipperer v. Raytheon
Co., 493 F.3d 50, 53 (1st Cir. 2007) (quoting Ingersoll-Rand Co. v.
McClendon, 498 U.S. 133, 139 (1990)).
conduct" underlies both the state law claim and the ERISA claim,
that overlap "suggests that the state law claim is an alternative
mechanism for obtaining ERISA plan benefits," and the state law
claim is preempted.
Further, he specifies
This calculation,
that
the
commonwealth
claims
are
merely
"an
The
Riley v.
Metro. Life Ins. Co., 744 F.3d 241, 244 (1st Cir. 2014).
Summary
A "genuine"
Id.
29 U.S.C. 1132(a)(3)(B).
Although many of
-12-
v. Raytheon Co. Pension Plan for Salaried Emps., 239 F.3d 51, 57-58
(1st Cir. 2001); City of Hope Nat'l Med. Ctr. v. HealthPlus, Inc.,
156 F.3d 223, 230 n.9 (1st Cir. 1998); Law, 956 F.2d at 370 n.9;
see also Todisco v. Verizon Commc'ns, Inc., 497 F.3d 95, 99 n.4
(1st Cir. 2007) (noting cases).
would
modify
the
plan.
See
Law,
956
F.2d
at
369-70
First, because an
Therefore, it would be
-13-
It would be unreasonable
rather than modify the plan may provide "a narrow window for
estoppel recovery."
We have
explained that "[t]his is why courts which do recognize ERISAestoppel do so only when the plan terms are ambiguous."
Id.
Id.
(quoting Fashion House, Inc. v. K mart Corp., 892 F.2d 1076, 1083
(1st Cir. 1989)).
in the Plan.
-14-
1. Years of Service
Guerra argues that an ambiguity exists in the Plan's
definition of Years of Service.
of
Service
include
years
of
active
In addition,
participation
or
Guerra
We
744
-15-
Guerra
maintains
that
there
is
"clear
Guerra
change the Plan "at any time," the otherwise clear provisions of
the Plan are unstable or, to use a word more useful to his estoppel
claim, ambiguous.
argument is plain.
Since Guerra has not shown any ambiguity in the Plan, his
equitable estoppel claim necessarily fails.7
III.
For
the
reasons
set
forth
above,
Guerra's
ERISA
judgment.8
So ordered.