Keen v. Lockheed Martin Corp.

• Decision Date: 30 April 2007
• Docket Number: Civil Action No. 05-CV-6211.,Civil Action No. 05-CV-4478.
• Citation: 486 F.Supp.2d 481
• Parties: Richard A. KEEN, Plaintiff, v. LOCKHEED MARTIN CORP. et al., Defendants. John Piatelli, et al., Plaintiffs, v. Lockheed Martin Corp. et al., Defendants.
• Court: U.S. District Court — Eastern District of Pennsylvania

486 F.Supp.2d 481

Richard A. KEEN, Plaintiff, v. LOCKHEED MARTIN CORP. et al., Defendants.

John Piatelli, et al., Plaintiffs, v. Lockheed Martin Corp. et al., Defendants.

Civil Action No. 05-CV-4478.

Civil Action No. 05-CV-6211.

United States District Court, E.D. Pennsylvania.

April 30, 2007.

Richard A. Keen, West Chester, PA, pro se.

Alan M. Sandals, Scott M. Lempert, Sandals & Associates, PC, Philadelphia, PA, Claire Kennedy-Wilkins, Jeffrey Greg Lewis, Margaret Elizabeth Hasselman, Lewis Feinberg Lee Renaker & Jackson PC, Oakland, CA, for Plaintiffs.

Christopher C. Lund, James Ian Downes, Jerome A. Hoffman, Dechert LLP, James A. Bell, IV, Bell & Bell LLP, Philadelphia, PA, Frederick Sandstrom, Jeffrey G. Huvelle, Covington & Burling, Washington, DC, for Defendants.

MEMORANDUM

ANITA B. BRODY, District Judge.

Before me are summary judgment motions in two cases relating to the allegedly unlawful denial of benefits to workers who performed services for General Electric Company and/or Lockheed Martin Corporation, at aerospace facilities in King of Prussia, Pennsylvania. In 1993, Martin Marietta Corporation purchased GE's aerospace facilities, and in 1995, Martin Marietta merged with Lockheed Corporation and became known as Lockheed Martin ("Lockheed"). Defendants in both cases have moved for summary judgment on the statute of limitations.

Facts

The material facts are undisputed.

1. John Piatelli

John Piatelli worked at the King of Prussia facilities from 1991 to 2002.¹ In 1991, GE hired Piatelli as a courier in the human resources department. Piatelli underwent a security clearance and background check, which lasted six to nine months. During that time, Piatelli was a regular employee of GE, eligible to participate in GE's benefit plans. Piatelli discussed GE's benefits with a GE human resources representative. The representative told Piatelli that Piatelli's status as a regular employee would be short-lived, for upon completion of the security clearance and background check, Piatelli would become a subcontractor no longer eligible for any GE benefits. In light of his fleeting eligibility, Piatelli never substantively reviewed any plan documents and never enrolled in any of GE's benefit programs.

After receiving security clearance, Piatelli was terminated by GE, hired by Volt, a temporary employment agency, and assigned to work in the GE mailroom. As the GE representative had advised him, once he became a contingent worker, Piatelli did not receive any GE benefits. Piatelli believed, however, that contingent workers should be receiving benefits for their service. This thought occurred to him "off and on" for many years. He asked his supervisor, plaintiff Stephen Gardner, also a contingent worker, why they were not receiving benefits, and Gardner told him it was because of their contingent worker status.²

In 1992, Piatelli stopped working for Volt and began working for Aerotech, still at the GE mailroom. Later that year, GE outsourced its mailroom operations to CDI. In April, 1993, Martin Marietta, which later became Lockheed, acquired parts of the GE business and took over the King of Prussia facilities. Martin Marietta adopted GE's existing benefit plan language that provided benefits only to "employees."

In 1995, Piatelli applied for a job as a regular employee at Lockheed, in part to obtain benefits. Lockheed offered him a custodial position, and he accepted. Lockheed began paying Piatelli directly, and Piatelli began receiving benefits under Lockheed's plans. Lockheed, however, did not credit Piatelli for his years of service as a contingent worker. In 2002, Lockheed terminated Platelli's employment for reasons not material to this action.

2. Stephen Gardner

Plaintiff Stephen Gardner worked as a mail clerk in the King of Prussia facilities from 1985 to 1997 or 1998. For this entire period, Gardner was a contingent worker paid by third party employment agencies, initially by Manpower, and then by CDI. Gardner never read or received any of defendants' benefit plan documents. No one from GE or Lockheed ever spoke to Gardner directly about benefits, but Gardner was aware that while regular employees were receiving benefits, as a contingent worker, he was ineligible. Gardner knew several regular GE employees who worked in the mailroom and assumed they were receiving benefits, including GE employees who used to be contingent workers. Gardner desired benefits and was concerned about not receiving them, but Gardner did not speak to anyone at Manpower, anyone at GE, or any colleagues about those concerns because he was content with his job and wanted to avoid conflict. In 1992, GE outsourced its mailroom to CDI. Around that time, Gardner stopped working for Manpower and began working for CDI. Gardner became a mailroom supervisor and continued in that role through Martin Marietta's purchase of the King of Prussia facilities, as well as its merger with Lockheed. In 1997 or 1998, Gardner resigned from CDI and ceased working at the King of Prussia facilities.

Before 1994, defendants' benefit plans provided for the participation of common law employees.³ Piatelli and Gardner allege that each became a common law employee from approximately the time they began working at defendants' facilities and remained a common law employee until the time they left or accepted regular employment.⁴ Defendants admit that they administered their plans to exclude contingent workers completely, regardless of whether these workers had acquired the status of common law employees. Defendants took no action to determine any contingent workers' common law employee status and accompanying right to participate in defendants' benefit In 1994 and 1995, Lockheed amended its plans to preclude common law employees from participating altogether. Lockheed made no effort to inform any contingent workers of these plan amendments.

In November 2003 and May 2004, Piatelli and Gardner filed administrative claims seeking benefits for their service as common law employees for the period of time that they were contingent workers. Defendants denied their claims and their appeals of those claims.

On November 30, 2005, Piatelli and Gardner filed this lawsuit against GE, Lockheed and related benefit plans and plan administrators. They bring claims for: (1) declaratory relief regarding their participant status as common law employees, under ERISA § 502(a)(1)(B), 29 U.S.C § 1132(a)(1)(B); (2) breach of fiduciary duty under ERISA § 404(a) and § 502(a)(3), 29 U.S.C § 1104(a) and § 1132(a)(3); and (3) declaratory and injunctive relief regarding Lockheed's alleged violation of ERISA's notice provision under ERISA § 204(h), 29 U.S.C § 1054(h).

3. Richard Keen

For many years, plaintiff Richard Keen worked for GE as a systems engineer and regular employee at the King of Prussia facilities. In 1993, Martin Marietta acquired those facilities. Martin Marietta created an eight week window period during which former GE employees, who were now employees of Martin Marietta, could elect to retire from Martin Marietta and continue their jobs working as contingent workers without receiving benefits from Martin Marietta. During this window period, from April 5, 1993 to May 28, 1993 (Period 1), Martin Marietta employed Keen directly. Keen was a "regular employee" entitled to participate in Martin Marietta's benefit plans. At the close of the window period Keen elected to retire from Martin Marietta, begin collecting his GE pension, and continue working at the aerospace facilities as a contingent worker employed by H.L. Yoh Company. Martin Marietta management assured Keen that, as a contingent worker, he would earn the same salary he had earned as a regular employee, but that he would be ineligible to participate in Martin Marietta's benefit plans. Keen worked in this capacity from May 28, 1993 to February 10, 1997 (Period 2), during which time Martin Marietta merged with Lockheed Corporation. Keen alleges that he was a common law employee of Lockheed from May 28, 1993 to February 10, 1997.

On February 10, 1997, Lockheed offered Keen the opportunity to join the company once again as a "regular" employee, and Keen accepted., From February 10, 1997 to September 3, 2002 (Period 3), Keen worked for Lockheed in this capacity and participated in Lockheed's benefit plans. Lockheed offered an informal vacation plan, under which Lockheed employees were entitled to either two or three weeks of paid vacation per year, depending on their years of service credited under the pension plan.

Keen retired in 2002. Lockheed calculated Keen's pension and other benefits based on his service from February 10, 1997 to September 3, 2002, excluding his service as a contingent worker employed by Yoh. In September, 2003, Keen wrote to Lockheed to recover benefits he believed were owed to him on account of his service during that period. Keen received no response. In November, 2003, he wrote to Lockheed's Vice President for Benefits Administration and to Benefits Finance and Administration. Lockheed denied Keen's requests and his subsequent appeals. In March, 2004, Lockheed denied Keen's request to reconsider his appeal.

On August 23, 2005, Keen filed this lawsuit, asserting six claims against various Lockheed-related defendants: three claims for benefits under ERISA § 502(a)(1)(B), 29 U.S.C. § 1132(a)(1)(B), one claim for denial of vacation benefits,⁵ and two claims under ERISA § 510, 29 U.S.C. § 1140, for discrimination against a participant or beneficiary for exercising any right to which he is entitled under the provisions of the employee beneficiary plan.

Keen contends that he is entitled to additional pension benefits for both periods 1 and 2, but with respect to his claims for savings and cafeteria benefits,⁶ Keen asserts that he is entitled to additional benefits only for period 2.

The Lockheed defendants have moved for summary judgment against Keen on the statute of...