Lehman v. Nelson, No. 18-35321 (9th Cir. 2019)
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The Ninth Circuit filed (1) an order granting a request for publication, withdrawing the panel's prior memorandum disposition, and directing the filing of an opinion; and (2) an opinion affirming the district court's grant of summary judgment in favor of plaintiffs in an Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) class action concerning pension contributions.
Amendments 14 and 24 of the fund had the effect of withholding at least $1.00 per hour from all employer contributions. Plaintiff filed a class action against the trustees under ERISA. In a prior appeal, Lehman I, the panel held that the trustees could not keep the $1.00 hourly withholdings they had made pursuant to Amendment 14. The panel affirmed the district court's grant of summary judgment for plaintiff and awarded damages to the class. The panel then remanded for the district court to address Amendment 24. On remand, the district court again granted summary judgment in favor of the class.
The panel affirmed the district court's determination that Amendment 24 violated the plain language of Article 5 of the Pacific Coast Pension Plan, which mandated that the Plan collect and transfer all contributions received on behalf of travelers. The panel explained that the trustee's interpretation of Amendment 24 with regard to travelers' contributions was inconsistent with the Plan's own definition of "contribution."
Court Description: Labor Law / ERISA The panel filed (1) an order granting a request for publication, withdrawing the panel’s prior memorandum disposition, and directing the filing of an opinion; and (2) an opinion affirming the district court’s grant of summary judgment in favor of plaintiffs in an ERISA class action concerning pension contributions. After the Trustees of the IBEW Pacific Coast Pension Fund learned that the Fund would soon enter “critical status” * The Honorable David Alan Ezra, United States District Judge for the District of Hawaii, sitting by designation. LEHMAN V. NELSON 3 under the Pension Protection Act of 2006, they twice amended the Plan. Amendments 14 and 24 had the effect of withholding at least $1.00 per hour from all employer contributions. Plaintiff Richard Lehman, an electrician, filed a class action against the Trustees under ERISA. Plaintiff was a member of a different local union pension fund. When he was temporarily employed outside his home fund, his employer contributed to the local fund in the place where the work was performed. Plaintiff’s home fund and the Pacific Cost Fund were signatories to the Electrical Industry Pension Reciprocal Agreement, under which “travelers” like plaintiff could elect to have employer contributions from other jurisdictions electronically transferred to their designated home pension fund. In a prior appeal, Lehman I, the court held that the Trustees could not keep the $1.00 hourly withholdings they had made pursuant to Amendment 14, rather than including these withholdings in the transfer payments made to travelers’ home funds, on the Trustees’ theory that the withholdings were not “contributions” within the meaning of the Reciprocal Agreement. The court affirmed the district court’s grant of summary judgment in favor of plaintiff and award of damages to the class for all contributions withheld under Amendment 14. The court remanded for the district court to address whether the class could recover contributions withheld under Amendment 24. On remand, the district court again granted summary judgment in favor of the class, determining that Amendment 24 violated the plain language of Article 5 of the Pacific Coast Pension Plan, which mandated that the Plan collect and transfer all contributions received on behalf of travelers. 4 LEHMAN V. NELSON Affirming, the panel held that the Trustee’s interpretation of Amendment 24 with regard to travelers’ contributions was unavailing.
This opinion or order relates to an opinion or order originally issued on June 12, 2019.
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