Helton v. AT & T Inc.

• Decision Date: 06 March 2013
• Docket Number: No. 11–2153.,11–2153.
• Court: U.S. Court of Appeals — Fourth Circuit
• Parties: Francine HELTON, Plaintiff–Appellee, v. AT & T INC.; AT & T Pension Benefit Plan, Defendants–Appellants.

709 F.3d 343

Francine HELTON, Plaintiff–Appellee,

v.AT & T INC.; AT & T Pension Benefit Plan, Defendants–Appellants.

No. 11–2153.

United States Court of Appeals,Fourth Circuit.

Argued: Dec. 5, 2012.

Decided: March 6, 2013.

ARGUED:Stacey Alan Campbell, Littler Mendelson PC, Denver, Colorado, for Appellants. Allison Caalim Pienta, Stephen R. Bruce Law Offices, Washington, D.C., for Appellee. ON BRIEFS:Stephen R. Bruce, Stephen R. Bruce Law Offices, Washington, D.C., for Appellee.

Before SHEDD, KEENAN, and WYNN, Circuit Judges.

Affirmed by published opinion. Judge WYNN wrote the opinion, in which Judge SHEDD and Judge KEENAN concurred.

OPINION

WYNN, Circuit Judge:

After first learning in 2009 that she had been entitled to begin collecting her full pension benefits nearly eight years earlier, plaintiff Francine Helton contacted her pension plan seeking to recoup her lost benefits. The pension plan denied Helton's claim, and Helton, in turn, brought this action under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (“ERISA”) against defendants AT & T Inc., her former employer, and the AT & T Pension Benefit Plan (collectively, “AT & T”). Following a bench trial, the district court found that AT & T unreasonably denied Helton's claim and failed to adequately notify her of a material change to its pension plan that allowed her to collect full benefits earlier than she had originally understood. The court awarded Helton $121,563.90 plus interest, reflecting the benefits she would have received from November 2001, when she became eligible to collect her pension benefits, until September 2009, when she was informed of her eligibility.

On appeal, AT & T challenges the district court's consideration of evidence outside of the administrative record and the court's determination that AT & T breached its statutory and fiduciary duties to Helton. AT & T also contends that the remedy the district court awarded—“retroactive” benefits—was barred by the Supreme Court's recent decision in CIGNA Corp. v. Amara, –––U.S. ––––, 131 S.Ct. 1866, 179 L.Ed.2d 843 (2011). For the reasons set forth below, we hold that the district court properly considered limited evidence outside of the administrative record but known to AT & T when it rendered Helton's benefits determination; correctly determined that AT & T breached its statutory and fiduciary duties to Helton; and did not err in awarding Helton her lost benefits. Accordingly, we affirm.

I.

Helton, who was born in October 1946, began working for AT & T in 1980 and moved to her present home in Arlington, Virginia in 1988. In April 1997, Helton took paid vacation time and, after her paid vacation was exhausted, an unpaid leave of absence from AT & T to open a home-cooking restaurant. She formally resigned from the company on May 31, 1997. At the time she left, Helton was a deferred vested pensioner of the Legacy AT & T Management Program of the AT & T Pension Plan (the “Pension Plan”) and believed, at that time correctly, that she was not eligible to receive benefits under the Pension Plan until she turned sixty-five. AT & T both funds and, for ERISA purposes, serves as plan administrator of the Pension Plan.

In August 1997, AT & T amended the Pension Plan through a “Special Update,” which, among other provisions, allowed certain participants, including Helton, to elect benefits at age fifty-five without facing any benefit reduction. AT & T attempted to notify eligible individuals about the Special Update in at least two ways: (1) through an April 28, 1997 letter from then AT & T Executive Vice President Harold Burlingame to active management employees and (2) in the Pension Plan's January 1, 1998 Summary Plan Description (“SPD”), which also was mailed to active management employees. Helton testified that she did not receive either of these communications.

Under the Special Update, Helton was entitled to begin receiving full pension benefits in October 2001, when she turned fifty-five. On March 14, 2001, AT & T employee Diane Ahlin forwarded an e-mail to the company's Pension Service Center stating: “I know that my ncs is 6–30–80 but I am not quite sure of my last date of employment. Can you please let me know. And is it true that I am not entitled to any pension benefits until I['ve] reached the age of 65.” J.A. 4101. Helton's name and social security number were at the bottom of the message, and her “ncs,” an employee's start-date with AT & T, matched the one in the message. Helton testified that she did not recall sending the message and that she had never interacted with Ahlin, but said she did have those questions at the time.

The Pension Service Center's case notes for Helton indicate the Center received a request for pension information on March 14, 2001, the same day as the Ahlin e-mail was forwarded. In response, the Center prepared a calculation of benefits on April 16, 2001. The case notes further indicate that the calculation of benefits was mailed to Helton as part of a pension commencement package on April 19, 2001. According to the case notes, Helton never returned this package, which included forms Helton had to complete in order to elect her benefits. The calculation of benefits was, therefore, destroyed, pursuant to AT & T's standard practice. However, a separate AT & T record does not show that AT & T mailed the April 16, 2001 commencement package to Helton, even though it indicates that other pension materials were mailed to her. Helton testified that she did not receive a commencement package or other pension-related communication from AT & T in 2001. Helton further testified that she did not receive AT & T's 2004 SPD, which also discussed the Special Update, until 2010.

On July 31, 2009, Helton, who was approaching her sixty-fifth birthday, contacted the Pension Service Center to find out how much she would receive when she became eligible for her pension. AT & T records indicate that, in response to Helton's request, it mailed pension materials to Helton on July 31, 2009, August 18, 2009, and August 31, 2009. However, Helton testified that she only received the materials sent on August 31, 2009. In that mailing, Helton received a commencement of benefits packet stating that she was immediately eligible to begin collecting her full pension benefit, despite the fact that she had not yet turned sixty-five. [J.A. 550] After learning about the Special Update from the Pension Service Center, Helton contacted AT & T's Pension Plan administrator, AON Consulting,¹ and requested pension benefits dating back to her fifty-fifth birthday. The administrator denied Helton's request on December 16, 2009, stating that, under the Pension Plan's terms, benefits are payable on a “forward going basis and there is no provision in the Plan for retroactive pension payments.” J.A. 553.

On December 29, 2009, Helton appealed the administrator's denial of benefits to AT & T's Employee Benefits Committee (the “Benefits Committee”), stating that she never received the 2001 commencement package or the Burlingame letter. Helton suggested that she might not have received the mailings because she was on personal leave at the time they were mailed or because, even when properly sent, “[t]here is often mail that is mis-delivered and often not returned.” J.A. 563.

Christine Holland, an AT & T employee and secretary of the Benefits Committee, prepared the materials for the committee to consider in reviewing Helton's appeal. The administrative record Holland assembled included a brief statement of facts regarding Helton's claim, a timeline, a copy of the Burlingame letter, excerpts from the version of the Pension Plan in effect in 1998, excerpts from the 2004 SPD, a screen shot of Helton's address in AT & T's employee masterfile, and copies of correspondence between AT & T and Helton regarding her claim.

After reviewing the record, the Benefits Committee, which was composed of five AT & T human resources vice presidents, denied Helton's appeal on March 22, 2010, affirming the administrator's decision that “retroactive” benefits are unavailable under the terms of the Pension Plan. J.A. 531. The Benefits Committee also determined that Helton was appropriately notified of the Special Update because she was an “active management employee” on August 28, 1997, when the Burlingame letter was mailed, and her “address has remained the same since at least 1988 and there was no indication that mail has been returned to [AT & T] as undeliverable from [Helton's] address.” J.A. 534.

Following the Benefits Committee's denial of her appeal, Helton requested that AT & T provide her with all materials in its possession related to her claim, as required by federal law. See29 C.F.R. § 2560.503–1(j)(3), (m)(8). In response, AT & T provided Helton with the Pension Service Center's case notes for her claim and a model version of the benefit calculation that would have been included in her 2001 commencement package.

On August 8, 2010, Helton filed a complaint against AT & T in federal district court alleging, among other things, that AT & T: (1) improperly denied her retroactive benefits; (2) violated ERISA's disclosure obligations by failing to inform her about the Special Update; (3) breached its fiduciary duty to keep her informed about her benefits under the Plan; and (4) failed to provide her with information she requested. The complaint sought benefits for the period between when Helton turned fifty-five and when she began receiving benefits in 2009, as well as further monetary and declaratory relief. AT & T moved for summary judgment on all claims. The district court granted AT & T's motion with respect to the fourth claim and denied the motion as to the other three claims.

Following a three-day bench trial, the district court issued its Findings of Fact and Conclusions of Law on September 16, 2011, finding for Helton on all three surviving claims. Helton v. AT & T, Inc., 805 F.Supp.2d 234, 250 (E.D...