Mcdonald v. Pension Plan of Nysa-Ila Pension
| Decision Date | 29 March 2001 |
| Docket Number | No. 99 CIV 9054 NRB.,99 CIV 9054 NRB. |
| Citation | 153 F.Supp.2d 268 |
| Court | U.S. District Court — Southern District of New York |
| Parties | James McDONALD, Individually and on behalf of all others similarly situated Plaintiff, v. PENSION PLAN OF THE NYSA-ILA PENSION TRUST FUND, and Board of Trustees of the Pension Plan of the NYSA-ILA Pension Trust Fund, In Their Official and Personal Capacities, Defendants. |
Edgar Pauk, New York, NY, for plaintiff.
Ernest L. Mathews, Jr., Gleason & Mathews, New York, NY, Donato Caruso, Lambos & Junge, New York, NY, for defendants.
Plaintiff, James McDonald, brings this putative class action against the defendants the Pension Plan of the New York Shipping Association International Longshoremen's Association Pension Trust Fund ("Pension Plan"), and the Board of Trustees of the Pension Plan ("Board" or "Trustees") alleging multiple violations of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974, as amended ("ERISA" or the "Act"), 29 U.S.C. § 1001 et seq.1 Currently before the Court are plaintiff's motion for partial summary judgment and defendants' motion for summary judgment. For the reasons set forth in this opinion, plaintiff's motion is granted in part and denied in part, and defendant's motion is granted in part and denied in part.
The material facts are not in dispute. Defendant Pension Plan is a joint labor-management trust fund that administers a defined-benefit, multi-employer employee pension plan for the benefit of employee longshoremen and their beneficiaries. Defendants' Statement of Undisputed Material Facts ( ), ¶¶ 1-2; Pl.'s Compl., ¶ 7. Defendants' Trustees are the administrators of that plan. Defs.' 56.1 Statement, ¶ 4.
The Pension Plan has been modified several times since its inception in 1950. From 1950 to the enactment of ERISA in 1974, the Pension Plan had a single benefit structure providing for the payment of a flat monthly sum, called a Service Retirement Pension ("SRP"). 1950 Agreement and Declaration of Trust and Plan of the NYSA-ILA Pension Trust Fund and Plan ("1950 Plan"), A201;2 Defs.' 56.1 Statement, ¶ 8. Eligibility for the SRP was originally limited to those 65 years of age or older who had been continuously employed in the industry for at least 25 years and were actively employed at the time of their retirement. Defs.' 56.1 Statement, ¶ 9; 1950 Plan, A193-94. The amount of the SRP has increased over the years, paying a maximum monthly benefit of $950 in 1983, $1,045 in 1986 and $1,250 in 1992 based on 40 years of credited service. Defs.' 56.1 Statement, ¶ 10.
Under the terms of the 1950 plan, an employee's employment in the industry was deemed "terminated" and "shall no longer be considered continuous" when the employee has worked fewer than 400 hours a year for more than two calendar years, subject to certain exclusions not applicable to the present litigation. 1950 Plan, A194. This is an example of a so-called "break-in-service" provision.
After the enactment of ERISA, the Pension Plan was modified to provide an additional Vested Rights Pension ("VRP") for those who did not meet the eligibility requirements of the SRP. Defs.' 56.1 Statement, ¶ 12. The VRP provides benefits according to the following formula:
(a) For years of credited service in the industry prior to January 1, 1976, he shall receive 1-1/2% of the maximum monthly benefit in effect at the time he ceased employment in the industry, multiplied by years of credited service earned prior to January 1, 1976, [PLUS]
(b) For years of credited service after January 1, 1976, he shall receive 3% of the maximum monthly benefit in effect at the time he ceased employment in the industry, multiplied by the number of years of credited service earned on or after January 1, 1976, [PLUS] 3% of (a) above multiplied by the number of years of credited service after January 1, 1976.
(c) in no event shall a participant receive more than 100% of the maximum monthly benefit in effect at the time he ceased employment in the industry.
1985 Plan, A270; 1995 Plan, A388-89.3
Under the plan, a "year of credited service" is defined as:
(1) for years prior to October 1, 1978, any year in which a participant had at least 400 hours of employment in the industry provided that such participant had an average of 700 hours employment per year during such years prior to October 1, 1978 and provided further no credit shall be given for any year(s) of employment occurring prior to a break in service which break in service occurred prior to January 1, 1976; and
(2) commencing October 1, 1978, any year in which a participant has at least 700 hours of employment in the industry.
1985 Plan, A228-29; 1995 Plan A351-52. Thus, the post-ERISA versions of the Plan retain the break in service provision of the 1950 Plan.
On November 14, 1995, the Plan was again amended, retroactive to January 1, 1976. 1995 Amendment, A122-23. As amended, the 1995 Plan provided that all vested participants would accrue4 benefits in accordance with the VRP benefit formula above, and further provided that those eligible for the SRP and the VRP at retirement would receive the greater of the two benefits.5 Id.
After the adoption of the 1995 Amendment, the Plan's actuary reviewed the Plan's records, and provided retroactive adjustments to some beneficiaries' pensions without interest. Defs.' 56.1 Statement, ¶¶ 30-31; Affidavit of Joseph Rossetti, Executive Director of the Pension Plan ("Rosetti Aff."), ¶¶ 24-25. Defendants' actuary asserts, and plaintiff does not dispute,6 that the defendants have made all adjustments required by the 1995 Amendment for all beneficiaries. Affidavit of Susan E. Lee, actuary at the Segal Company, ("Lee Aff."), ¶¶ 3-7.
Effective October 1, 1996, the Plan was amended to replace the previous SRP benefit formula with an accrued benefit of $50 per month for each year of credited service up to a maximum of $2,000 per month based on 40 years of credited service for those retiring after the effective date. Defs.' 56.1 Statement, ¶ 11, 1999 SPD, A551. Those retiring before October 1, 1996 continue to receive benefits based on the VRP formula in the 1995 Plan, as amended. The effect of this most recent amendment is not challenged in the present action, as plaintiff retired before its effective date. Thus, we do not address the question of whether the Plan's new benefit structure satisfies ERISA's requirements. Accordingly, all references to the Plan, unless otherwise specified, are to the 1995 Plan, as amended. We now turn to the plaintiff and his claims.
Plaintiff, a former longshoreman, receives a lifetime pension from the Pension Plan. Plaintiff's Statement Pursuant to Local Rule 56 ("Pl.'s 56.1 Statement"), ¶ 1. Plaintiff first worked under the plan in 1953, and had sufficient hours under the terms of the plan to earn a year of credited service for each of the following thirteen years: 1953-60, 1963, 1965 and 1967-69. Pl.'s 56.1 Statement, ¶ 4. Plaintiff also worked sufficient hours to earn a year of credited service for the years 1973-74 and 1976-81, 1985 and 1986. Id. ¶ 3. In each of three consecutive years from 1970 through 1972, plaintiff failed to work a sufficient number of hours to earn a year of credited service, Id., ¶ 5, and under the terms of the plan then in effect, suffered a break in service. 1950 Plan, A194.
The Board ruled that the plaintiff had only 10 years of credited service and was therefore not eligible for the SRP, but only for the VRP. November 14, 1995 Minutes of the Board, A104-111. Thus, defendants awarded plaintiff a VRP pension in the amount of $263.38 per month based on ten years of credited service subsequent to 1972, disregarding plaintiff's first 13 years of credited service under the break in service provision of the 1950 Plan. Pl.'s 56.1 Statement, ¶¶ 1,4. Defs.' 56.1 Statement, ¶ 21.
Plaintiff filed a nineteen count complaint challenging the Board's calculation of his pension and alleging various violations of ERISA. Claims one through ten seek class relief, while claims eleven through nineteen seek individual relief.7 Six of the original nineteen claims were subsequently abandoned by the plaintiff or deemed moot by the parties.8 Defendant seeks summary judgment on the thirteen remaining claims, while plaintiff seeks partial summary judgment on his first, second and eleventh claims. After setting forth the appropriate standard of review,9 we turn first to the plaintiff's individual claims, followed by his class claims.
Summary judgment is properly granted "`if the pleadings, depositions, answers to interrogatories, and admissions on file, together with the affidavits, if any, show that there is no genuine issue as to material fact and that the moving party is entitled to judgment as a matter of law.'" R.B. Ventures, Ltd. v. Shane, 112 F.3d 54, 57 (2d Cir.1997) (quoting Fed.R.Civ.P. 56(c)). The Federal Rules of Civil Procedure mandate the entry of summary judgment "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, 91 L.Ed.2d 265 (1986).
In reviewing the record, we must assess the evidence "in the light most favorable to the non-movant and ... draw all reasonable inferences in his favor." Delaware & Hudson Ry. Co. v. Consolidated Rail Corp., 902 F.2d 174, 177 (2d Cir.1990). The mere existence, however, of an alleged factual dispute between the parties will not defeat a motion for summary judgment. In order to defeat such a motion, the non-moving party must affirmatively set forth facts showing that there is a genuine issue for trial. Anderson v. Liberty...
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