Pabst Brewing Co. v. Anger
Decision Date | 06 June 1985 |
Docket Number | Civ. No. 3-84-461. |
Citation | 610 F. Supp. 214 |
Parties | PABST BREWING COMPANY, a Delaware corporation, Plaintiff, v. Leo J. ANGER, Carol L. Arneson, Leon E. Babcock, Raymond F. Bakula, Robert E. Barduson, Germaine L. Blazek, David Brindley, Nancy Brown, Frances Drzoznowski, William A. Campbell, Gladys M. Carlson, Paul F. Chuchel, Karen M. Corbo, Francis Coulter, Estelle R. Czech, Robert E. Dorfner, Mary E. Engebretson, John D. Ericson, William J. Farrar, Patricia L. Fleishauer, Richard B. Gebauer, William A. Gillick, Steven A. Goemer, Donald R. Gooch, Roy Gosselin, Jr., Curtis A. Greer, Marian Guinn, Jerome S. Haggenmiller, Troy Hendrickson, Bernhard E. Hill, Wallace E. Hilling, Charles Hirschorn, Deborah Hockenberger, Vernon G. Hophan, Caroline R. Horwath, Inez Hunter, Dorothy Jahn, Clinton T. Johnson, Eugene W. Kern, James L. Kieger, Mary Ellen J. Kowsky, Alois A. Kubes, Robert J. Kujawski, Geraldine M. Kustelski, Ronald J. Laaksonen, Donald E. Larsen, Yolanda Latvala, James Lavorato, Evelyn M. Lecher, Vincent J. Lechman, Jeanne Ledman, Fred D. Lettengarver, James S. Lovell, Robert E. Luckow, Arthur E. Luger, Charles R. McBrayer, Eleanore McDonough, Michael W. McGee, Thomas J. McKenzie, Lilian C. Messenger, Herman P. Meysembourg, Peter P. Meysembourg, Carl E. Hohn, Donald N. Monson, Jr., Glenn W. Moore, Thomas L. Murphy, Corinne Page, George J. Paul, David L. Putz, Angeline A. Quitter, Curtis J. Reeves, Eugene W. Rogers, Gwen M. Rulli, Aaron Russ, III, Laura M. Sahlberg, Ardis A. Schwalbach, Herbert W. Schwarz, Francis H. Sommer, Richard W. Stark, Margaret M. Stelter, Donald W. Stevens, Patrick F. Sullivan, George Taylor, Jack F. Thurner, Janice M. Timmers, Dorothy Tuchner, Gerrit W. Van Pykersen, Herbert M. Virnig, Esther A. Voss, Warren Wallgren, Michael Whalen, Raymond A. Wiesner, Georgia Wilhelmi, Ronald L. Williams, Ernest W. Yoch, Ousik Yu, and The Stroh Brewery Company, Defendants. |
Court | U.S. District Court — District of Minnesota |
Clifford M. Greene, Minneapolis, Minn., for plaintiff.
Terence P. Durkin, St. Paul, Minn., for individual defendants.
Geoffrey P. Jarpe, St. Paul, Minn., for defendant Stroh Brewery.
The court has considered the parties' memoranda and supporting exhibits and affidavits, the arguments of counsel, and all of the files, records and proceedings in the case.
Plaintiff filed this action after receiving and denying claims for severance benefits following the exchange of its Saint Paul brewery for a Stroh's brewery in Tampa, Florida. The individual defendants were salaried, non-union employees of Pabst before the exchange, and hired by Stroh's at the time of the exchange. The individual defendants were never unemployed as a result of the exchange; in fact, most were retained in their same jobs at the same salary. These defendants argue that they are entitled to severance benefits because, as a result of the exchange, they were terminated from employment with Pabst. Stroh's is named as a defendant on a contribution or indemnity theory. Plaintiff seeks a declaration of its rights as to all defendants, pursuant to 29 U.S.C. § 1132(a)(3)(B). The individual defendants have filed counterclaims for the recovery of severance benefits, any applicable penalties, punitive damages and attorney's fees.
The individual defendants in this action seek severance benefits under the Olympia/Pabst SFEP. They argue that, at the time Pabst traded the brewery to Stroh's, they were laid off from Pabst within the meaning of the SFEP and therefore entitled to severance benefits. There is no dispute that these defendants were, at the time of the exchange, terminated from Pabst. Pabst argues, however, that since these employees were immediately rehired by Stroh's they are not entitled to severance benefits because such benefits are designed to provide financial assistance to former employees during periods of unemployment.
This case is appropriate for summary judgment. All parties filed motions seeking summary judgment. All counsel stated orally at the hearing that summary judgment is appropriate in this case. The court finds that there are no genuine issues of material fact.
The individual defendants' argument that summary judgment in favor of plaintiff is precluded by the case of Blau v. Del Monte Corp., 748 F.2d 1348 (9th Cir.1984) is unpersuasive. Plaintiff's severance policy was anything but secret, and the alleged ERISA violations, if true, do not reach the severity of those found in Blau. Further, defendants' "accrued benefits" argument, first raised at the hearing on these motions, is likewise inapposite. Dhayer v. Weirton Steel Division of National Steel Corporation, 571 F.Supp. 316 (N.D.W.Va.), aff'd sub nom Sutton v. Weirton Steel Division of National Steel Corporation, 724 F.2d 406 (4th Cir.1983), cert. denied, ___ U.S. ___, 104 S.Ct. 2387, 81 L.Ed.2d 345 (1984).
The Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA), 29 U.S.C. § 1001, et seq. governs this action and preempts state claims. Despite some alleged procedural defects, it is clear that ERISA applies. Donovan v. Dillingham, 688 F.2d 1367 (11th Cir.1982). Accordingly, jurisdiction is proper in this court, and the standard of review applicable in ERISA cases shall be applied. The application of ERISA preempts the parties' contract claims. 29 U.S.C. § 1144; Dependahl v. Falstaff Brewing Corporation, 653 F.2d 1208 (8th Cir.1981).
Defendants' claims that plaintiff has failed to comply with certain procedural provisions of ERISA warrant comment.1 Such claims are largely unsubstantiated and in any case fall short of the level of secrecy and noncompliance found in Blau v. Del Monte Corp., 748 F.2d 1348. Assuming, arguendo, that all of defendants' allegations are true, such would not warrant not applying ERISA to the present case. Donovan v. Dillingham, 688 F.2d at 1372.
Applying ERISA to this action, the court cannot interfere with plaintiff's administration of its severance plan, including its interpretation of plan provisions, unless plaintiff's action is "arbitrary, capricious, or an abuse of discretion." Quinn v. Burlington Northern Inc. etc., 664 F.2d 675, 678 (8th Cir.1981).
Plaintiff's denial of severance benefits was not, as...
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