Walker v. Board of Trustees, Regional Transp., 98-B-2585.

• Decision Date: 13 December 1999
• Docket Number: No. 98-B-2585.,98-B-2585.
• Parties: Ellsworth WALKER, Virgil Salazar, and Charles Gayles, Plaintiffs, v. BOARD OF TRUSTEES, REGIONAL TRANSPORTATION DISTRICT and Amalgamated Transit Union Division 1001 Pension Fund Trust; Regional Transportation District and Amalgamated Transit Union Division 1001 Pension Fund Trust; Rosemarie Snyder; Michael Rucker; Gregg Fisher; Lloyd Mack; Larry Sorget; Earl Nichol, Trustees, Defendants.
• Court: U.S. District Court — District of Colorado

76 F.Supp.2d 1105

Ellsworth WALKER, Virgil Salazar, and Charles Gayles, Plaintiffs, v. BOARD OF TRUSTEES, REGIONAL TRANSPORTATION DISTRICT and Amalgamated Transit Union Division 1001 Pension Fund Trust; Regional Transportation District and Amalgamated Transit Union Division 1001 Pension Fund Trust; Rosemarie Snyder; Michael Rucker; Gregg Fisher; Lloyd Mack; Larry Sorget; Earl Nichol, Trustees, Defendants.

No. 98-B-2585.

United States District Court, D. Colorado.

December 13, 1999.

COPYRIGHT MATERIAL OMITTED

Robert L. Liebross, Denver, CO, for Plaintiffs.

Timothy J. Parsons, Dean C. Heizer, Morgan A. Word, Gorsuch, Kirgis, LLP, Denver, CO, for Defendants.

MEMORANDUM OPINION AND ORDER

BABCOCK, District Judge.

Defendants move pursuant to Rules 12(b)(1), and 12(b)(6) to dismiss plaintiff's first, second, and third claims, and part of the fourth. Defendants also move pursuant to Rule 12(c) for judgment on the pleadings with respect to the same claims. The motions are adequately briefed and oral argument will not materially aid their resolution. For the reasons set forth below, I grant in part and deny in part defendants' motion to dismiss. I also dismiss Plaintiffs' claim brought under the Colorado Constitution. Jurisdiction exists under 28 U.S.C. § 1331.

I.

As a result of collective bargaining, the Regional Transportation District (RTD) and Amalgamated Transit Union Local 1001, the union representing RTD's hourly workers (Union), created the Amalgamated Transit Union Division 1001 Pension Fund Trust (Trust). The Trust "holds assets of the [Amalgamated Transit Union Division 1001 Pension (Pension Plan)] and pays pension benefits due under the [Pension] Plan." Amended Complaint at para. 5. The Pension Plan "is primarily funded by contributions from RTD." Id. at para. 15. The collective bargaining agreement also created a trust agreement that provides for a Board of Trustees (Board) to administer the Pension Plan. The Board is staffed by an equal number of individuals appointed by RTD and the union, and possesses the authority to amend, and fiduciary responsibility with respect to, the Pension Plan. Id. at paras. 4, 15.

RTD employed Plaintiffs "for many years" prior to their respective retirements. Since retirement, Plaintiffs have received payouts from the Pension Plan. On September 30, 1997, the individual Defendants acting in their capacities as members of the Board amended the Pension Plan, and applied the amendment retroactively resulting in a decrease in the amounts disbursed to Plaintiffs on a monthly basis.

The Board informed Plaintiffs of this change on July 22, 1998. The notification letter also advised Plaintiffs that they could request the Board to review its actions, but allegedly did not provide a description of the material or information upon which the review would be based as required by the Pension Plan. All Plaintiffs requested such review but the Board did not change its decisions with respect to their cases. On October 2, 1998, Plaintiffs filed this action in Colorado state court. On November 25, 1998, Defendants removed the action to this court.

II.

A.

Rule 12(b)(1) empowers a court to dismiss a complaint for "lack of jurisdiction over the subject matter." As courts of limited jurisdiction, federal courts may only adjudicate cases that the Constitution and Congress have granted them authority to hear. See U.S. CONST. art. III, § 2; Morris v. City of Hobart, 39 F.3d 1105, 1110 (10th Cir.1994). Statutes conferring jurisdiction on federal courts are to be strictly construed. F & S Construction Co. v. Jensen, 337 F.2d 160, 161 (10th Cir.1964). If a Rule 12(b)(1) motion to dismiss merely challenges the sufficiency of the allegations in the complaint, the court must accept those allegations as true, see Holt v. United States, 46 F.3d 1000, 1002-1003 (10th Cir.1995), but "without regard to mere conclusionary allegations of jurisdiction." Groundhog v. Keeler, 442 F.2d 674, 677 (10th Cir.1971). Nevertheless, the burden of establishing subject-matter jurisdiction is on the party asserting jurisdiction. Basso v. Utah Power and Light Co., 495 F.2d 906, 909 (10th Cir.1974).

B.

A motion for judgment on the pleadings under Fed.R.Civ.P. 12(c) is treated as a motion to dismiss under Fed.R.Civ.P. 12(b)(6). McHenry v. Utah Valley Hosp., 927 F.2d 1125, 1126 (10th Cir.1991) cert. denied, 502 U.S. 894, 112 S.Ct. 263, 116 L.Ed.2d 217 (1991) (quoting Bishop v. Federal Intermediate Credit Bank of Wichita, 908 F.2d 658, 663 (10th Cir.1990)), cert. denied, 502 U.S. 894, 112 S.Ct. 263, 116 L.Ed.2d 217 (1991). Rule 12(b)(6) states that a court may dismiss a complaint for "failure to state a claim upon which relief can be granted." The complaint should not be dismissed under Rule 12(b)(6) "unless it appears beyond doubt that the plaintiff can prove no set of facts in support of his claim which would entitle him to relief." Conley v. Gibson, 355 U.S. 41, 45-46, 78 S.Ct. 99, 2 L.Ed.2d 80 (1957) (footnote omitted); accord Meade v. Grubbs, 841 F.2d 1512, 1526 (10th Cir. 1988). In reviewing the sufficiency of the complaint, a court must presume that the plaintiff's factual allegations are true and construe them in a light most favorable to the plaintiff. Scheuer v. Rhodes, 416 U.S. 232, 94 S.Ct. 1683, 40 L.Ed.2d 90 (1974), overruled on other grounds by Davis v. Scherer, 468 U.S. 183, 104 S.Ct. 3012, 82 L.Ed.2d 139 (1984); accord Meade, 841 F.2d at 1526.

12(b)(6) must be read in conjunction with Fed.R.Civ.P. 8(a), which requires "a short and plain statement of the claim showing that the pleader is entitled to relief." The statement need not contain detailed facts, but it "must give the defendant fair notice of what the plaintiff's claim is and the grounds upon which it rests." Conley, 355 U.S. at 47, 78 S.Ct. 99. A plaintiff is not required to state precisely each element of the claim. 5 Charles A. Wright and Arthur R. Miller, FEDERAL PRACTICE AND PROCEDURE § 1216, at 154-159 (1990). Nonetheless, a plaintiff must "set forth factual allegations, either direct or inferential, respecting each material element necessary to sustain recovery under some actionable legal theory." Gooley v. Mobil Oil Corp., 851 F.2d 513, 515 (1st Cir.1988). A court may not assume that a plaintiff can prove facts that it has not alleged, or that the defendant has violated laws in ways that plaintiff has not alleged. Associated General California, Inc. v. California State Council of Carpenters, 459 U.S. 519, 526, 103 S.Ct. 897, 74 L.Ed.2d 723 (1983).

C.

Defendants enjoy qualified immunity from § 1983 claims unless they violated "clearly established statutory or constitutional rights of which a reasonable person would have known." Harlow v. Fitzgerald, 457 U.S. 800, 818, 102 S.Ct. 2727, 73 L.Ed.2d 396 (1982). The qualified immunity defense "cannot be analogized to other affirmative defenses because of the interests implicated in suits against government officials. Unlike other affirmative defenses, qualified immunity not only shields a defendant from liability, but is also intended to protect the defendant from the burdens associated with trial." Pueblo Neighborhood Health Centers, Inc. v. Losavio, 847 F.2d 642, 645 (10th Cir. 1988). The defense is only available to those defendants sued in their personal capacities. See Moore v. City of Wynnewood, 57 F.3d 924, 929 n. 4 (10th Cir.1995) ("the defense of qualified immunity only applies to [defendants] in [their] individual capacit[ies]"). See also Mitchell v. Forsyth, 472 U.S. 511, 556 n. 10, 105 S.Ct. 2806, 86 L.Ed.2d 411 (1985) (concurring/dissenting opinion of Justice Brennan) ("Of course, an official sued in his official capacity may not take advantage of a qualified immunity defense") (citing Brandon v. Holt, 469 U.S. 464, 105 S.Ct. 873, 83 L.Ed.2d 878 (1985)).

III.

A.

Defendants claim they are immune from Plaintiffs' first claim for breach of fiduciary duty. Specifically, Defendants assert that they are either "public entities" or "public employees," as defined in C.R.S. § 24-10-103 of the Colorado Governmental Immunity Act (CGIA), and that a claim for breach of fiduciary duty sounds in tort. Defendants conclude that Plaintiffs' first claim must be dismissed.

As an initial matter, I note that while RTD is a "public entity" under the CGIA, see Brock v. Nyland, 955 P.2d 1037, 1040 (Colo.1998) (treating RTD as a "public entity"), the Union is not. I also note there is no Colorado or Tenth Circuit authority of which I am aware that addresses the question presented here: whether organizations created through collective bargaining between "public" and non-public entities, and the members of one of those organizations, are entitled to immunity under the CGIA. Consequently, I must construe the CGIA to determine whether Defendants are entitled to immunity. In so doing, I must give effect to the legislative purpose underlying the CGIA, which should be determined, to the extent it can be, through analysis of the statute's plain language. See Climax Molybdenum Co. v. Walter, 812 P.2d 1168 (Colo.1991). If the statute's language is unambiguous, then the inquiry ends. See Kane v. Town of Estes Park, 786 P.2d 412, 415 (Colo.1990). Finally, I must heed the admonition that because it is a derogation of the common law, "[t]he CGIA's ... immunity provisions are subject to strict construction. Walton v. State, 968 P.2d 636, 643 (Colo. 1998).

I conclude that none of the defendants are entitled to immunity under the CGIA. As for the Trust and the Board, neither can be deemed a "public entity" under the CGIA. Indeed, neither is a "state, county, city and county, municipality, school district, special improvement district, [or any] other kind of district, agency, instrumentality, or political subdivision thereof," and because the Union is not a "public entity" under the CGIA, neither was created through "inter governmental contract or cooperation." C.R.S.A. § 24-10-103(5) (emphasis added). The CGIA's plain...