Weiss v. Sheet Metal Workers Local No. 544 Pension Trust, 82-3056
| Decision Date | 25 October 1983 |
| Docket Number | No. 82-3056,82-3056 |
| Citation | 719 F.2d 302 |
| Parties | 4 Employee Benefits Ca 2273 Morris WEISS, Plaintiff-Appellant, v. SHEET METAL WORKERS LOCAL NO. 544 PENSION TRUST, et al., Defendants-Appellees. |
| Court | U.S. Court of Appeals — Ninth Circuit |
Morris Weiss, Portland, Or., for plaintiff-appellant.
James W. Kasameyer, Carney, Probst & Cornelius, Portland, Or., for defendants-appellees.
Appeal from the United States District Court for the District of Oregon.
Before FERGUSON, BOOCHEVER and NORRIS, Circuit Judges.
Appellant, a pro se litigant, claims that he has been unfairly denied access to information about his pension status held by the administrators of the Pension Trust of the Sheet Metal Workers Local No. 544 ("Trust"). Appellant is a retired laborer who worked sporadically as a member of the Sheet Metal Workers Union from 1961 to 1977. He does not in this action claim entitlement to a pension; nor does he make a credible showing that he satisfied minimum vesting requirements during his employment, or that there is any significant probability that he will be reemployed. The district court held that appellant is not a "participant" within the meaning of the Employee Retirement Income Security Program Act ("Act"), 29 U.S.C. Sec. 1002(7), and therefore is not entitled to information under 29 U.S.C. Sec. 1025. We affirm.
Section 1025 of the Act provides that
each administrator of an employee pension benefit plan shall furnish to any plan participant or beneficiary who so requests in writing, a statement indicating
(1) the total benefits accrued; and
(2) the nonforfeitable pension benefits, if any, which have accrued ...
Section 1002(7) defines "participant" as "any employee or former employee ... who is or may become eligible to receive a benefit of any type from an employee benefit plan ..." (emphasis added). Quite clearly, therefore, Weiss may have access to pension information under Sec. 1025 only if he can show that he is a former employee who "is or may become eligible" for some type of pension benefit.
In Nugent v. Jesuit High School, 625 F.2d 1285 (5th Cir.1980), the Fifth Circuit held that a former employee who was not entitled to a pension because his pension rights had not vested is not a "participant" within the purview of the Act. Finding that Congress did not intend to subject pension fund administrators to the burdens and expense of maintaining pension information for employees unable to make any claim for pension benefits, the Fifth Circuit interpreted the "may become eligible" language of Sec. 1002(7) as applicable only to current, not to former, employees. Id. at 1287-89. In deciding the case before us, we need not go as far as Nugent in holding that the "may become eligible" language of Sec. 1002(7) is restricted to current employees. 1 We leave open the question whether a former employee may qualify as a "participant" by making a showing that he "may become eligible" because there is a significant probability he may return to work and satisfy vesting requirements in the future. All we decide in this case is that Weiss does not qualify as a "participant" because he is a former employee who has made no credible showing that he is vested and because he does not claim that he will return to work. We thus hold that he is not entitled to access to pension information under Sec. 1025. 2
Weiss's other claims are without merit. His claim that the trial judge was biased because he had received general endorsements and contributions from some labor unions during his 1972 and 1976 campaigns for state office is dismissed because it was not timely raised. Weiss has shown neither good cause why he did not file an affidavit requesting the trial judge to recuse himself under 28 U.S.C. Sec. 144, see United States v. Sibla, 624 F.2d 864, 867 (9th Cir.1980) (...
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...approach as the district court here. See Nugent v. Jesuit High School, 625 F.2d 1285 (5th Cir.1980); Weiss v. Sheet Metal Workers Local No. 544 Pension Trust, 719 F.2d 302 (9th Cir.1983); Freeman v. Jacques Orthopedic & Joint Implant Surgery Medical Group, 721 F.2d 654 (9th Cir.1983). These......
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..."participants" entitled to an accounting under this standard of present or future eligibility. See Weiss v. Sheet Metal Workers Local No. 544 Pension Trust, 719 F.2d 302, 304 (9th Cir.1983), cert. denied, --- U.S. ----, 104 S.Ct. 2347, 80 L.Ed.2d 821 (1984); Hernandez v. Southern Nevada Cul......
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Martin v. General Motors Corp.
...We note finally that our reading of the statute accords with that adopted by other circuits. Weiss v. Sheet Metal Workers Local No. 544 Pension Trust, 719 F.2d 302 (9th Cir.1983), cert. denied, 466 U.S. 972, 104 S.Ct. 2347, 80 L.Ed.2d 821 (1984); Nugent v. Jesuit High School, 625 F.2d 1285 ......
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Table of Cases
...§3:10 Weinberger v. Romero-Barcelo , 456 U.S. 305, 102 S.Ct. 1798 (1982), §7:23 Weiss v. Sheet Metal Workers Local No. 544 Pension Tr. , 719 F.2d 302, 304 (9th Cir. 1983), §7:31 Wells v. New Cherokee Corp., 58 F.3d 233 (6th Cir. 1995), Form 11-03 Wells v. Rushing , 755 F.2d 376, 380 (5th Ci......
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Motions
...grounds become apparent. Delay may be a reason to deny the motion. See, e.g. , Weiss v. Sheet Metal Workers Local No. 544 Pension Tr. , 719 F.2d 302, 304 (9th Cir. 1983). Under 28 U.S.C. §144, a party must file a “timely and sufficient” affidavit supporting the request that the judge recuse......