Sears v. Chrysler Corp.

• Decision Date: 28 April 1995
• Docket Number: No. 94CV-74387-DT.,94CV-74387-DT.
• Citation: 884 F. Supp. 1125
• Parties: Marie M. SEARS, Plaintiff, v. CHRYSLER CORPORATION, a foreign corporation, Joseph McCormick, James Kiple, Dennis Alm, Don Witkowski, David Reed, and Hobart Porter, jointly and severally, Defendants.
• Court: U.S. District Court — Eastern District of Michigan

884 F. Supp. 1125

Marie M. SEARS, Plaintiff, v. CHRYSLER CORPORATION, a foreign corporation, Joseph McCormick, James Kiple, Dennis Alm, Don Witkowski, David Reed, and Hobart Porter, jointly and severally, Defendants.

No. 94CV-74387-DT.

United States District Court, E.D. Michigan, Southern Division.

April 28, 1995.

Arnold M. Gordon, Gordon, Cutler, Southfield, MI, for plaintiff.

Gregory S. Muzingo, Chrysler Motors Corp., and Maxine G. Goodman, Chrysler Corp., Office of the Gen. Counsel, Highland Park, MI, for defendants.

OPINION AND ORDER GRANTING PLAINTIFF'S MOTION TO REMAND TO STATE COURT

ROSEN, District Judge.

I. INTRODUCTION

On September 29, 1994, Plaintiff Marie M. Sears, a former employee of Defendant Chrysler Corporation ("Chrysler"), filed a four-count complaint in Wayne County Circuit Court against Chrysler and six of its employees — Joseph McCormick, James Kiple, Dennis Alm, Don Witkowski, David Reed and Hobart Porter. Plaintiff seeks damages for breach of employment contract (count I), wrongful and/or retaliatory discharge (count II), intentional infliction of emotional distress (count III), and conspiracy to commit the tort of wrongful and/or retaliatory discharge and/or intentional infliction of emotional distress (count IV). All of these claims are based exclusively on state law.

Defendants removed this action to federal court on October 28, 1994, pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1441, alleging that Plaintiff's claims are preempted by § 514(a) of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA). 29 U.S.C. § 1144(a). The complaint contains only a passing reference to ERISA-governed benefits:

As a result of the aforesaid discharge without just cause, your Plaintiff has sustained a loss of earnings and earning capacity; loss of fringe and pension benefits; ... all of which damages are permanent and she will continue to suffer these damages in the future.

(Complaint, ¶ 31).

Plaintiff filed a Motion to Remand on November 21, 1994, to which Defendants responded on December 19. A hearing was held on February 9, 1995; and the parties submitted supplemental briefs on February 21 and 27. After considering the parties' arguments, the Court now finds, for the reasons stated below, that this case should be remanded to State court.

II. FACTUAL BACKGROUND

Plaintiff began working for Chrysler in April of 1981, and served in a number of positions before her promotion to training program development specialist in 1988. In that position, she was supervised by Defendant Donald Witkowski. Witkowski reported to Defendant Dennis Alm, who in turn reported to Defendant James Kiple. Plaintiff alleges that she uncovered evidence of a conspiracy by Kiple and others to remove, for personal gain, parts from vehicles that were to be donated by Chrysler to charitable organizations. As a result of her discovery, the individual Defendants allegedly began a campaign of harassment in an effort to force her resignation or to secure grounds for termination. Suffering from depression and hysteria due to their actions, Plaintiff eventually took a medical leave of absence.

During this time, Chrysler initiated a program whereby certain employees were offered incentives to terminate their jobs. The incentives are described in a two-page document dated April 2, 1991, entitled "1991 Special Early Retirement/Voluntary Termination Incentive Pension." Plaintiff was offered a "Voluntary Termination Incentive Pension" (VTIP); and, allegedly under duress, agreed to accept it on April 17, 1991. The document describes the VTIP option as follows:

If you accept this offer, you will receive:

• your choice of a lump sum ranging from $15,000 to $62,000 (minimum benefit depending on your years of continuous service) or a monthly actuarial equivalent annuity;

• a deferred pension (if you are vested) under the Chrysler Pension Plan and Salaried Employees' Retirement Plan (if applicable) payable at age 65 or as early as age 60 on a reduced basis;

• 6 months of Health Care and Life Insurance coverage (unless you become covered under another employer's plan);

• your choice of a Chrysler vehicle(s) with the applicable tax allowance indicated in the enclosed Pamphlet;

• if you are a participant under the Chrysler Salaried Employees' Savings Plan/Supplemental Savings Plan, your Plan assets will be available to you in accordance with the provisions of such Plans (please refer to the explanation contained in the retirement brochure);

• a payment equal to the balance of any unused, earned vacation;

• outplacement assistance as available under existing Chrysler programs.

To assist you in arriving at a decision, an ESTIMATE of your VTIP lump sum and age 65 deferred pension is shown on your personalized summary statement enclosed. If you have any questions regarding this estimate or the Program in general, you should contact your Personnel Department.

(Neither party supplied the Court with a copy of Plaintiff's personalized summary statement.) On April 17, 1991, Plaintiff signed a VTIP acceptance which states:

I hereby accept this offer of Voluntary Termination Incentive Pension. The effective date of my separation will be April 30, 1991, I acknowledge that I have had reasonable time to consider this offer, to discuss it with my attorney and/or financial advisor, and that my acceptance of this offer is completely voluntary on my part and was in no way forced upon me by Chrysler. I further understand that this election is in lieu of any other choice of retirement, including Employee Option or Normal retirement, to which I might otherwise be eligible.

Plaintiff seeks compensation for her loss of salary and benefits, as well as her emotional distress. She does not seek reinstatement with Chrysler.

III. ANALYSIS

A. ERISA-PREEMPTION AND REMOVAL JURISDICTION.

Federal courts "have original jurisdiction of all civil actions arising under the Constitution, laws, or treaties of the United States." 28 U.S.C. § 1331. And, "any civil action brought in a State court of which the district courts of the United States have original jurisdiction, may be removed by the defendant" to federal court. 28 U.S.C. § 1441(a). Thus, a defendant may remove to federal court any civil action arising under the laws of the United States. Whether a particular civil action arises under the laws of the United States depends on application of the "well-pleaded complaint rule." Under that rule, "a cause of action arises under federal law only when the plaintiff's well-pleaded complaint raises issues of federal law." Metropolitan Life Ins. Co. v. Taylor, 481 U.S. 58, 63, 107 S.Ct. 1542, 1546, 95 L.Ed.2d 55 (1987) (citing Gully v. First National Bank, 299 U.S. 109, 57 S.Ct. 96, 81 L.Ed. 70 (1936); Louisville & Nashville R. Co. v. Mottley, 211 U.S. 149, 29 S.Ct. 42, 53 L.Ed. 126 (1908)).

The plaintiff is the master of the complaint ... and may, by eschewing claims based on federal law, choose to have the cause heard in state court.... A defendant cannot, merely by injecting a federal question into an action that asserts what is plainly a state-law claim, transform the action into one arising under federal law, thereby selecting the forum in which the claim shall be litigated.

Caterpillar Inc. v. Williams, 482 U.S. 386, 398-99, 107 S.Ct. 2425, 2433, 96 L.Ed.2d 318 (1987). Thus, "the fact that a defendant might ultimately prove that a plaintiff's claims are pre-empted does not establish that they are removable to federal court." Id. at 398, 107 S.Ct. at 2432.

Nevertheless, the Supreme Court has recognized some areas of federal legislation that are so comprehensive that they constructively convert state law claims that come within their scope into claims "arising under" federal law, creating a "complete preemption exception" to the well-pleaded complaint rule. See Avco Corp. v. Aero Lodge No. 735, International Ass'n of Machinists, 390 U.S. 557, 88 S.Ct. 1235, 20 L.Ed.2d 126 (1968); Franchise Tax Bd. v. Construction Laborers Vacation Trust, 463 U.S. 1, 103 S.Ct. 2841, 77 L.Ed.2d 420 (1983). In Metropolitan Life, supra, the Supreme Court extended this exception to state law claims that fall within the scope of ERISA's civil enforcement provision, 29 U.S.C. § 1132(a). Section 1132(a) allows a plan participant to bring a civil action "to recover benefits due him under the terms of his plan, to enforce his rights under the terms of the plan, or to clarify his rights to future benefits under the terms of the plan...." 29 U.S.C. § 1132(a)(1)(B).¹

ERISA also contains a general preemption provision. With exceptions not relevant here, it states that ERISA "shall supersede any and all State laws insofar as they may now or hereafter relate to any employee benefit plan...." 29 U.S.C. § 1144(a). This clause "is conspicuous in its breath," FMC Corporation v. Holliday, 498 U.S. 52, 56, 111 S.Ct. 403, 407, 112 L.Ed.2d 356 (1990), and has been interpreted broadly, requiring preemption of state law "even if the law is not specifically designed to affect an ERISA-governed plan, or the effect is only indirect." Ingersoll-Rand Co. v. McClendon, 498 U.S. 133, 142, 111 S.Ct. 478, 484, 112 L.Ed.2d 474 (1990). However, some state laws may have "too tenuous, remote, or peripheral" an effect on a benefit plan to fall within the statute's preemptive force. Shaw v. Delta Air Lines, Inc., 463 U.S. 85, 100 n. 21, 103 S.Ct. 2890, 2901 n. 21, 77 L.Ed.2d 490 (1983).

In a recent case involving removal jurisdiction, the Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit distinguished between two types of ERISA preemption — preemption implied by § 1132(a), and preemption explicitly created by § 1144(a). Warner v. Ford Motor Co., 46 F.3d 531 (6th Cir.1995) (en banc). See also Alexander v. Electronic Data Systems Corp., 13 F.3d 940 (6th Cir.1994); Harris v. Provident Life and Acc. Ins. Co., 26 F.3d 930, 933-34 (9th Cir.1994); Alexander v. Anheuser-Busch Companies, Inc., 990 F.2d 536, 540 (10th Cir.1993). The first "preempts actions...