Crawford v. Roane

• Decision Date: 06 November 1995
• Docket Number: No. 94-5192,94-5192
• Citation: 53 F.3d 750
• Parties: , Pens. Plan Guide P 23908N Lloyd V. CRAWFORD, III, et al., Plaintiffs-Appellants, v. Jack A. ROANE, et al., Defendants-Appellees.
• Court: U.S. Court of Appeals — Sixth Circuit

Page 750

53 F.3d 750

31 Fed.R.Serv.3d 1243, Pens. Plan Guide P 23908N

Lloyd V. CRAWFORD, III, et al., Plaintiffs-Appellants, v. Jack A. ROANE, et al., Defendants-Appellees.

No. 94-5192.

United States Court of Appeals, Sixth Circuit.

Argued April 3, 1995.

Decided May 11, 1995.

Rehearing Denied Nov. 6, 1995.

Lloyd V. Crawford (argued and briefed), Memphis, TN, for plaintiffs-appellants.

Robbin T. Sarrazin, and Jill M. Steinberg (argued and briefed), Baker, Donelson, Bearman & Caldwell, Memphis, TN, for defendants-appellees.

Before: MERRITT, Chief Judge; SILER, Circuit Judge; EDMUNDS, District Judge. ^*

NANCY G. EDMUNDS, District Judge.

The children of Dr. Lloyd Crawford, Jr., appeal the district court's judgment that they are not entitled to proceeds from their father's Money Purchase Pension Plan ("the Plan"). The district court held that the children do not have standing as beneficiaries to bring an action for benefits under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act ("ERISA"), 29 U.S.C. Sec. 1132. For the following reasons, we affirm the decision of the district court.

I

Dr. Crawford was a physician with the Pediatric Allergy Group until his retirement on or about December 31, 1991. As an employee of the Group, he participated in the Group's Plan. Dr. Crawford never designated a beneficiary to receive his Plan benefits nor executed a waiver of the survivor annuity. Dr. Crawford began receiving pension benefits from the Plan on or about January 6, 1992. He did not receive the full amount of his benefits from the Plan because of his death on or about March 13, 1992. He is survived by his widow, Beverlie Crawford, and his three children. The Trustees and Administrator of the Plan (collectively "the Trustees") determined that the children were not beneficiaries of the Plan, and distributed all Plan benefits to Mrs. Crawford.

The children filed a declaratory judgment complaint against Mrs. Crawford and the Trustees of the Plan in state court seeking to have the court adjudge them the beneficiaries of their father's Plan. Defendants removed the case to the United States District Court for the Western District of Tennessee on the basis that the complaint involved federal questions under ERISA, 29 U.S.C. Sec. 1144. The children filed a motion for leave to amend complaint, which the district court denied. Defendant Mrs. Crawford filed a motion for summary judgment, and the children subsequently filed a motion for summary judgment. The district court entered an "Order Denying Plaintiff's Motion for Summary Judgment and Granting Defendants' Motion for Summary Judgment," ¹ ordering that all proceeds from the Plan are properly payable to Mrs. Crawford, as Dr. Crawford's surviving spouse.

The children filed a Notice of Appeal, stating that they appeal "the judgment denying Plaintiffs' Motion for Summary Judgment and granting Defendant Beverlie P. Crawford's Motion for Summary Judgment." In their appellate brief, served on counsel for the Trustees as well as counsel for Mrs. Crawford, the children appeal the district court's denial of their motion for leave to amend. Mrs. Crawford is the only Defendant to file a brief in this appeal.

II

Before turning to the merits of the case, we must first determine over which parties and claims we have appellate jurisdiction. Mrs. Crawford argues that this Court does not have appellate jurisdiction over the Trustees, and that this Court does not have jurisdiction to determine whether the district court should have denied the children's motion for leave to amend their complaint. We disagree.

Mrs. Crawford first argues that this Court does not have jurisdiction over the Trustees because the children did not name them as appellees on the notice of appeal. This argument has no merit. Federal Rule of Appellate Procedure 3(c), only requires that the notice of appeal "specify the party or parties taking the appeal," and does not require an appellant to name appellees. Fed.R.App.P. 3(c); Intern. Union, UAW v. United Screw & Bolt Corp., 941 F.2d 466, 471 (6th Cir.1991).

Mrs. Crawford next argues that this Court does not have jurisdiction over the Trustees because the children have not appealed the district court's order denying their motion for leave to amend complaint. "Ordinarily, appeal from a final judgment draws into question all prior non-final rulings and orders." United Screw, 941 F.2d at 471. If an appellant, however, chooses to designate specific determinations in its notice of appeal, only those determinations may be raised on appeal. Id. Nevertheless, we considered and rejected a contention similar to Mrs. Crawford's in Caldwell v. Moore, 968 F.2d 595, 598 (6th Cir.1992), and do so here. The children filed a notice of appeal stating that they appeal "the judgment denying Plaintiffs' Motion for Summary Judgment and granting Defendant Beverlie P. Crawford's Motion for Summary Judgment," but their appellate brief, which they served on counsel for the Trustees, discusses the Trustees' failure to furnish information and makes clear that the children also seek review of the district court's denial of their motion for leave to file an amended complaint. Therefore, the Trustees were on notice that the children seek appellate review of the motion for leave to amend their complaint and suffer no prejudice as a result of the children's failure to specify that they desire appellate review of the motion for leave to amend.

III

The children seek to bring two claims in this action. First, the children claim that they are entitled to benefits of their father's Plan under ERISA's civil enforcement provision, 29 U.S.C. Sec. 1132(a)(1). Second, the children request that the Court order the Trustees to pay a penalty to the children for the Trustees' failure to provide plan information. 29 U.S.C. Sec. 1132(c). The district court granted summary judgment in favor of the Defendants on the children's first claim, and refused to allow the children to amend their complaint to bring their second claim. Because the children do not have standing to bring either claim, we agree with the judgment of the district court.

We review a district court's grant of summary judgment pursuant to Fed.R.Civ.P. 56(c) de novo, using the same test utilized by the district court. Moore v. Philip Morris Companies, Inc., 8 F.3d 335, 339 (6th Cir.1993). In considering a motion for summary judgment, a district court may grant the motion only if there is no genuine issue as to any material fact and the moving party is entitled to judgment as a matter of law. Fed.R.Civ.P. 56(c). "Rule 56(c) mandates the entry of summary judgment, after adequate time for discovery and upon motion, against a party who fails to make a showing sufficient to establish the existence of an element essential to that party's case, and on which that party will bear the burden of proof at trial." Celotex Corp. v. Catrett, 477 U.S. 317, 322, 106 S.Ct. 2548, 2552, 91 L.Ed.2d 265 (1986).

While the district court must view the allegations of the complaint in the light most favorable to the non-moving party, Windsor v. The Tennessean, 719 F.2d 155, 158 (6th Cir.1983), cert. denied, 469 U.S. 826, 105 S.Ct. 105, 83 L.Ed.2d 50 (1984), there must be sufficient evidence upon which a jury could reasonably find for the non-movant. Anderson v. Liberty Lobby, Inc., 477 U.S. 242, 252, 106 S.Ct. 2505, 2512, 91 L.Ed.2d 202 (1986). "Where the record taken as a whole could not lead a rational trier of fact to find for the non-moving party, there is no 'genuine issue' for trial." Street v. J.C. Bradford & Co., 886 F.2d 1472, 1478 (6th Cir.1989) (citing Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd. v. Zenith Radio Corp., 475 U.S. 574, 106 S.Ct. 1348, 89 L.Ed.2d 538 (1986)).

We review the district court's denial of a motion for leave to amend a complaint under an abuse of discretion standard. Foman v. Davis, 371 U.S. 178, 182, 83 S.Ct. 227, 230, 9 L.Ed.2d 222 (1962). Pursuant to Rule 15(a) of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, leave to amend shall be freely granted when justice so requires. A motion to amend a complaint should be denied if the amendment is brought in bad faith, for dilatory purposes, results in undue delay or prejudice to the opposing party, or would be futile. Ford v. Ford, 371 U.S. 187, 83 S.Ct. 273, 9 L.Ed.2d 240 (1962); Marx v. Centran, 747 F.2d 1536, 1550 (6th Cir.1984), cert. denied, 471 U.S. 1125, 105 S.Ct. 2656, 86 L.Ed.2d 273 (1985).

Standing is essential to the exercise of jurisdiction and is a "threshold question ... [that] determin[es] the power of the court to entertain the suit." Warth v. Seldin, 422 U.S. 490, 498, 95 S.Ct. 2197, 2205, 45 L.Ed.2d 343 (1975). Under ERISA's civil enforcement provision, 29 U.S.C. 1132(a), a civil action may be brought "by a participant or beneficiary ... to recover benefits due him under the terms of his plan, to enforce his rights under the terms of the plan, ... to clarify his rights to future benefits under the terms of the plan" or for relief under subsection (c) of Sec. 1132. 29 U.S.C. Sec. 1132(a)(1). 29 U.S.C. Sec. 1132(c) provides as follows:

Any administrator who fails or refuses to comply with a request for any information which such administrator is required by this subchapter to furnish to a participant or beneficiary ... within 30 days after such request may in the court's discretion be personally liable to such participant or beneficiary in the amount of up to $100 a day from the date of such failure or refusal, and the court may in its discretion order such other relief as it deems proper.

Other subsections of Sec. 1132 provide that the Secretary of Labor or a fiduciary of a plan may also bring a civil enforcement suit under ERISA. 29 U.S.C. Secs. 1132(a)(2), (3) and (4). Therefore, the children have standing to bring their claims only if they are participants, beneficiaries, or fiduciaries. ²

The children argue that they are "beneficiaries" with ERISA standing essentially because the...