Gauer v. Connors

• Decision Date: 18 December 1991
• Docket Number: No. 90-1860,90-1860
• Citation: 953 F.2d 97
• Parties: Delbert T. GAUER, Plaintiff-Appellant, v. Joseph CONNORS, Sr.; Paul R. Dean; William A. Jordon; William Miller; Donald Pierce, Jr., Trustees of the United Mine Workers of America Health and Retirement Fund, Defendants-Appellees.
• Court: U.S. Court of Appeals — Fourth Circuit

Page 97

953 F.2d 97

Delbert T. GAUER, Plaintiff-Appellant, v. Joseph CONNORS, Sr.; Paul R. Dean; William A. Jordon;

William Miller; Donald Pierce, Jr., Trustees of

the United Mine Workers of America

Health and Retirement Fund,

Defendants-Appellees.

No. 90-1860.

United States Court of Appeals, Fourth Circuit.

Argued April 8, 1991.

Decided Dec. 18, 1991.

Brent E. Beveridge, Morgantown, W. Va., for plaintiff-appellant.

Janet Alberghini Penz, Sr. Associate Counsel, UMWA Health & Retirement Funds, Washington, D.C., argued (Andree M. St. Martin, Associate Gen. Counsel, UMWA Health & Retirement Funds, Washington, D.C., on the brief), for defendants-appellees.

Before RUSSELL and WIDENER, Circuit Judges, and WILLIAMS, District Judge for the Eastern District of Virginia, sitting by designation.

OPINION

DONALD RUSSELL, Circuit Judge:

Delbert T. Gauer appeals from the district court's grant of summary judgment for the Trustees of the United Mine Workers of America Health and Retirement Funds ("Trustees"). The district court held that the Trustees did not abuse their discretion in denying Gauer's application for pension benefits under the United Mine Workers of America 1950 Pension Plan ("Pension Plan"). Gauer contends the denial was arbitrary because it was based on an interpretation of the Pension Plan inconsistent with regulations promulgated pursuant to the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA), 29 U.S.C. §§ 1001-1461 (West 1985 & Supp.1991). Although we disagree with the standard of review applied by the district court, we conclude it reached the correct result and, accordingly, affirm.

I.

Gauer is a former coal miner who was employed in the bituminous coal industry in West Virginia from 1940 to December 31, 1984, when he retired at age 65. From 1940 until March 1956, he worked for various coal companies as a mechanic. In March 1956, he left his position as a mechanic at Compass Coal Co. and took a salaried position as a maintenance foreman with Consol. Since then, each of his positions in the coal industry has been salaried.

To qualify for benefits under the Pension Plan, an applicant must have attained the age of fifty-five and completed either: (1) twenty years of credited service, including a variable amount (five years in Gauer's case) of signatory service after May 28, 1946, or (2) ten years of signatory service, including at least three years of signatory service after December 31, 1970. Pension Plan, arts. II.B. & IV.C(4). "Credited service" includes work for an employer in the coal industry in a job classified as such in the bituminous coal wage agreement in effect at the time of employment. Id. art. IV.A(1). Gauer's non-salaried employment is "credited service"; his salaried employment is not. "Signatory service" includes credited service with an employer who was a signatory to the bituminous coal wage agreement in effect at the time of employment. Id. art. IV.B(1).

Gauer's service does not satisfy these requirements. Gauer does not have twenty years of credited service--his employment up to 1956 amounts to only 14 3/4 years. ^* Nor does he have three years of signatory service after 1970--all of his post-1970 employment is salaried and thus non-signatory. Article II, part E of the Pension Plan provides, however, that some service can be used for vesting purposes that does not otherwise qualify for use in calculating pension benefits. The specific exceptions do not apply in Gauer's case. Part E provides that minimum requirements of signatory service can be satisfied by some non-signatory service. The requirement, where applicable, that three years of signatory service be after December 31, 1970, is nowhere waived. Nor is any mention made of satisfying minimum requirements of credited service with non-credited service. Nevertheless, Part E specifies that "[t]he provisions of this paragraph shall be interpreted and construed in accordance with the requirements of ERISA and the regulations issued thereunder." In fact, ERISA and its regulations require modification of the Pension Plan's vesting rules. It is these modifications, not the terms of the Pension Plan itself, that are the basis of Gauer's case. Without ERISA, Gauer would have no hope of recovery.

Article VI, part B of the Pension Plan authorizes the Trustees to "promulgate rules and regulations to implement this Plan." Pursuant to this provision, the Trustees have developed various Questions and Answers ("Q & A's") to be used in interpreting the Pension Plan. Q & A 319 reflects the Trustees' interpretation of the Pension Plan in light of 29 C.F.R. § 2530.210(c) (1991). It provides that nonclassified years of signatory employment shall be used for vesting purposes provided four conditions are met: (1) no periods of nonclassified employment shall be credited before age twenty-two; (2) at least three years of signatory service are required after December 31, 1970; (3) such non-classified service must be "contiguous" to classified service; and (4) non-classified service prior to a "break-inservice" shall be disregarded unless the break is "repaired." The Trustees concluded that Gauer's non-classified service was not contiguous to classified service and, on that basis, denied his application for pension benefits. Gauer contends the Trustees misinterpreted ERISA regulations.

II.

The district court reviewed the Trustees' decision to deny Gauer pension benefits under an abuse of discretion standard. Courts review denials of pension benefits de novo unless the administrator or fiduciary of the pension plan at issue has discretionary authority to determine eligibility for benefits or to construe the terms of the plan. Firestone Tire & Rubber Co. v. Bruch, ...