Field v. Sheet Metal Workers Nat'l Pension Fund
| Decision Date | 30 September 2022 |
| Docket Number | Civil Action 1:20-cv-11939 -IT |
| Parties | DAVID A. FIELD, Plaintiff, v. SHEET METAL WORKERS' NATIONAL PENSION FUND, Defendant. |
| Court | U.S. District Court — District of Massachusetts |
Plaintiff David Field, a participant in Defendant Sheet Metal Workers' National Pension Fund (“NPF” or “Fund”), brings suit for plan benefits pursuant to 29 U.S.C. § 1132(a)(1)(B). Field alleges that the Fund wrongfully terminated his disability benefits by improperly concluding that he had never been eligible for such a benefit in the first instance and that he had engaged in disqualifying employment in 2016. Pending before the court are cross-motions for summary judgment. For the following reasons, Field's Motion for Summary Judgment [Doc. No. 30] is DENIED and the Fund's Renewed Motion for Summary Judgment [Doc. No. 41] is GRANTED.
The Fund is a multiemployer pension plan within the meaning of 29 U.S.C. § 1002(37)(A). Pl.'s Resp. to Def.'s Statement of Material Facts (“PRSMF”) ¶ 2 [Doc. No. 46]. The Board of Trustees of the NPF administers the Fund and is a plan “fiduciary” within the meaning of 29 U.S.C. § 1002(21)(A). Id. at ¶ 3. Participants in the NPF Plan (“the Plan”) are eligible for benefits pursuant to the provisions of the NPF Plan Document (“Plan Document”). Def.s' Resp. to Pl.s' Statement of Material Facts (“DRSMF”) ¶ 2 [Doc. No. 34].
Pursuant to § 2.02 of the Plan Document, an employer participates in the Plan as a Contributing Employer when it is a party to a collective bargaining agreement with SMWIA[1]and/or any Local[2] that, in pertinent part, requires contribution to the Fund for work performed in a job classification, and at a place of business, by a Covered Employee consistent with the collective bargaining agreement. Id. at ¶ 3. Covered Employee means a person who performs work covered by a collective bargaining agreement for a Contributing Employer. Plan Document at § 1.13 [Doc. No. 43-2]. Covered Employment, in relevant part, means work performed by an employee on behalf of one or more Contributing Employers in his or her capacity as a Covered Employee. Id. at § 1.14.
The Fund credits hours of service to Plan participants pursuant to the terms of the Plan Document. DRSMF ¶ 3 [Doc. No. 34]. To be eligible for full disability benefits pursuant to Article 16 of the Plan Document (“Disability Benefits”), participants, in relevant part, must have at least ten years of Pension Credit,[3] including at least five years of Future Service Credit,[4] and have been found disabled by the Social Security Administration (“SSA”). Id. at ¶ 5.
Section 8.02 of the Plan Document directs the Plan participant to provide accurate and complete information to the Fund Office when reasonably requested to do so and reserves the Fund's right to modify and or recover benefit payments if previously submitted information was not materially accurate or incomplete:
Pensioner and Beneficiary shall furnish the Fund Office with any information or proof requested by it and reasonably required to administer the Plan. If a Participant or Pensioner or other claimant to benefits makes a materially inaccurate statement related to his claim for benefits, or furnishes materially inaccurate or incomplete information or proof relative to eligibility or continued eligibility for benefits, then benefits may be denied, suspended, or discontinued to the extent permitted by law. The Trustees shall have the right to recover any benefit payments made in reliance on any materially inaccurate or incomplete statement, information or proof submitted by a Participant, Pensioner or Beneficiary.
Section 16.06(b) of the Plan Document states that a Disability Benefit will terminate if the recipient, “. . . performs any work of any kind whatsoever, regardless of compensation, for an employer engaged in the Sheet Metal Industry and that employer is not signatory to a collective bargaining agreement between the Union and the employers . . . or performs any work whatsoever in Disqualifying Employment . . . .” Id. at ¶ 25.
Section 1.35 of the Plan Document defines “Sheet Metal Industry” in pertinent part as follows:
The term “Sheet Metal Industry” shall mean any and all types of work covered by collective bargaining agreements to which the Union and/or any Local are a party; or under the trade jurisdiction of the Union, as described in the SMWIA's constitution (except insofar as such trade jurisdiction relates solely to the Transportation Division); or in a related building trade; or any other work to which a sheet metal worker has been assigned, referred, or can perform because of his skills and training as a sheet metal worker.
Section 8.06(d)(1) of the Plan Document defines “Disqualifying Employment” as follows: “(i) employment with any Contributing Employer; (ii) employment with any employer in the same or related business as any Contributing Employer; (iii) self-employment in the same or related business as a Contributing Employer; (iv) employment or self-employment in a business which is under the jurisdiction of the Union; or (v) employment in the Sheet Metal Industry that is not covered by a collective bargaining agreement between the Union and the employer.” Id. at ¶ 27.
Section 8.03 of the Plan Document gives the Trustees “the sole and absolute power, authority and discretion to determine: . . . (2) the application and interpretation of the Plan Document; (3) entitlement to or amount of a pension; . . . (5) the crediting of Future or Past Service Credit and/or Contribution Hours; and (6) the crediting of Hours of Work and Years of Service.” Id. at ¶ 4. The Trustees have delegated the aforementioned power, authority and discretion to the Appeals Committee of the Board of Trustees (“Appeals Committee”), which, pursuant to Section 8.03(b) of the Plan Document, has the same discretionary power and authority as the Trustees. Id. at ¶ 5. The decision of the Appeals Committee with respect to any matter within the range of such delegated authority is final and binding. Id. The Appeals Committee is comprised of one labor Trustee and one management Trustee. Id.
Field became a member of SMART Local Union 17 in Dorchester, Massachusetts, in 1981 and remains a retired member. DRSMF ¶ 1 [Doc. No. 34]. Field was a plan participant under the Plan. Id. at ¶ 2. On or about May 21, 1993, Field submitted an application for a disability pension to the Fund asserting that he was disabled and unable to work in the Sheet Metal Industry. PRSMF ¶ 6 [Doc. No. 46]. Specifically, Field represented that he was suffering from electrocution, herniated discs, and Crohn's disease. DRSMF ¶ 6 [Doc. No. 34]. In his application, Field stated that he had worked for the following Contributing Employers during the period August 1981 to 1991: (i) Johnson Sheet Metal; (ii) Shane Engineering; and (iii) BFI Stephens. PRSMF ¶ 7 [Doc. No. 46].
In a July 29, 1993 letter, Fund staff informed Field that he was ineligible to receive disability pension benefits because he did not have 10 years of Pension Credit. Id. at ¶ 9.
In a September 8, 1993 letter, Field appealed the denial of a disability pension, requesting that the Fund credit him with hours which he had been credited with under the Local Plan before his Local's merger with the national Fund in 1989 and hours from Johnston Sheet Metal where he worked as an apprentice. DRSMF ¶ 10 [Doc. No. 34]; PRSMF ¶ 10 [Doc. No. 46]. In this letter, Field also stated that he was last gainfully employed in January 1991 “due to a serious electrocution suffered at the JFK building on January 17, 1991[,] which resulted in the last time [he] will ever be gainfully employed, due to [his] medical and physical condition.” PRSMF ¶ 11 [Doc. No. 46]
Fund staff wrote to Field on November 17, 1993, informing him that he remained ineligible for disability pension benefits due to insufficient Pension Credit. Id. at ¶ 12.
On March 10, 1994, Bud Field, the owner of Field Fabrication Corporation (“Field Fabrication”), a union contractor, wrote to the Fund asserting for the first time that his son worked for Field Fabrication. DRSMF ¶ 13 [Doc. No. 34]. Bud Field claimed that, as the result of a clerical error, Field Fabrication had neglected to submit payment for hours Field had worked in 1987, 1990, and 1991. Id. Bud Field's letter indicated that Field Fabrication wanted to provide payment for those hours. PRSMF ¶ 14 [Doc. No. 46].
In a September 29, 1994 letter, the Fund notified Field that it accepted the foregoing payments[5] and credited the additional hours to Field for the corresponding contributions but that even with these additional credited contributions, he did not have the required 10 years of Pension Credit to qualify for a disability pension under the Plan Document. Id. at ¶ 15.
Subsequently, in a January 20, 1995 letter, Bud Field on behalf of Field Fabrication reported additional hours worked in 1982, 1990, and 1991 and paid contributions for Field for those hours with three bank cashier's checks. Id. at ¶ 16; DRSMF ¶ 16 [Doc. No. 34]. On January 31, 1995, Field reapplied for a disability pension. PRSMF ¶ 17 [Doc. No. 46]. Relying on the information and documents submitted by Field and Field Fabrication, the Fund approved Field's application for a disability pension effective February 1, 1995, and began paying him a monthly amount. Id. at ¶ 19.
Field received correspondence from the Fund from time to time thereafter, among other things reminding him that his disability pension may be terminated if he engaged in Disqualifying...
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