Erickson v. Americold Logistics, LLC
Erickson v. Americold Logistics, LLC
Opinion of the Court
This matter is before the court upon the motion to dismiss by defendants SuperValu Inc. and Jerry's Enterprises, Inc. Based on a review of the file, record, and proceedings herein, and for the following reasons, the motion is granted.
BACKGROUND
This ERISA dispute arises out of the Minneapolis Food Distributed Industry Pension Fund Trust Agreement (Trust *1075Agreement). Under the terms of the Trust Agreement, four trustees are appointed to represent the employers of plan participants (Employer Trustees) and four trustees are appointed to represent the unions participating in the pension plan (Union Trustees). Am. Compl. ¶ 9. Teamsters Local 120, pursuant to its internal appointment procedures, select the Union Trustees. Id. ¶ 10; Pet. Ex. 1, Trust Agreement § 4.8. Employer Trustees are selected by "Employers of a majority of Participants." Trust Agreement § 4.8. "Participants" are defined as "[a]ny Employee or former Employee who is eligible for benefits" under the Trust Agreement, id. § 1.4, but the Union's employees "shall not be considered in connection with any determination required to be made by Employers of a stated percentage or majority of Employees." Id. § 1.3.
Plaintiffs
On March 15, 2017, plaintiffs filed a petition in Hennepin County District Court seeking judicial interpretation and construction of the Trust Agreement. Defendants timely removed, and the court denied plaintiffs' motion to remand holding that ERISA preempted plaintiffs' state law claims. See ECF No. 20. On November 30, 2017, plaintiffs filed an amended complaint alleging that (1) SuperValu breached its fiduciary obligation under ERISA by failing to follow the terms of the Trust Agreement, and (2) the remaining defendants breached their fiduciary obligations under ERISA by acquiescing to SuperValu's violation of the Trust Agreement. Plaintiffs seek relief pursuant to
Defendants SuperValu and Jerry's Enterprises now jointly move to dismiss, arguing that: (1) plaintiffs lack standing; (2) the complaint fails to state a claim upon which relief can be granted; and (3) the Labor Management Relations Act precludes the plaintiffs' claims.
DISCUSSION
I. Standing
Article III of the United States Constitution limits the jurisdiction of federal courts to justiciable cases and controversies. U.S. Const. art. III, § 2; Lujan v. Defenders of Wildlife,
(1) it has suffered an injury in fact that is (a) concrete and particularized and (b) actual and imminent, not conjectural or hypothetical; (2) the injury is fairly traceable to the challenged action of the defendant; and (3) it is likely, as opposed to merely speculative, that the injury will be redressed by a favorable decision.
Friends of the Earth, Inc. v. Laidlaw Envtl. Servs. (TOC), Inc.,
"To establish injury in fact, a plaintiff must show that he or she suffered an invasion of a legally protected interest that is concrete and particularized and actual or imminent, not conjectural or hypothetical." Spokeo, Inc. v. Robins, --- U.S. ----,
II. Analysis
Plaintiffs contend that they have Article III standing because any alleged violation of ERISA meets the injury-in-fact requirement. In support, they cite to
a participant, beneficiary, or fiduciary (A) to enjoin any act or practice which violates any provision of [ERISA] or the terms of the plan, or (B) to obtain other appropriate equitable relief (I) to redress such violations or (ii) to enforce any provisions of [ERISA] or the terms of the plan.
In other words, plaintiffs argue that they have standing simply because the statute authorizes the commencement of this suit. The court disagrees.
Neither a statutory violation nor the authorization to bring suit is necessarily sufficient to meet the injury-in-fact requirement. See Spokeo,
Although Spokeo recognized that "the violation of a procedural right granted by statute can be sufficient in some circumstances to constitute injury in fact,"
*1077Thole v. U.S. Bank, Nat'l Ass'n,
Here, plaintiffs allege that defendants breached their fiduciary duties by violating the terms of the Trust Agreement, but they do not allege any actual injury-to themselves, the Plan, or its participants or beneficiaries-caused by the alleged breach.
Plaintiffs contend that their status as trustees, and therefore fiduciaries, somehow alters the standing analysis. They specifically note that trustees have long had standing to petition courts to construe trust agreements. Although generally true, plaintiffs do not cite to any case in which a court has construed a trust agreement in the abstract and absent any concrete or particularized injury. Indeed, plaintiffs' cases all involved an actual injury. See e.g., CIGNA Corp. v. Amara,
CONCLUSION
Accordingly, based on the above, IT IS HEREBY ORDERED that:
1. Defendants' joint motion to dismiss [ECF No. 96] is granted;
2. Plaintiffs' claims against SuperValu Inc. and Jerry's Enterprises, Inc. are dismissed with prejudice; and
3. Jerry's Enterprises, Inc. is dismissed from this action.
Plaintiffs are R. Thomas Erickson, Richard L. Fredrick, Troy D. Gustafson, and William C. Wedebrand in their capacity as Union Trustees.
The court rejects plaintiffs' contention that the prior order denying remand, [ECF No. 20], should influence the court's analysis here. In denying plaintiffs' motion to remand, the court only held that plaintiffs' claims were preempted by ERISA; it did not address whether plaintiffs had constitutional standing. See
Because the court finds that the plaintiffs do not have standing, it does not address defendants' remaining arguments for dismissal.
Reference
- Full Case Name
- R. Thomas ERICKSON v. AMERICOLD LOGISTICS, LLC
- Cited By
- 2 cases
- Status
- Published