Opinions of the United 2008 Decisions States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit

2-22-2008

Haesler v. Ciba Self Medication Precedential or Non-Precedential: Non-Precedential

Docket No. 06-4275

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Recommended Citation "Haesler v. Ciba Self Medication" (2008). 2008 Decisions. Paper 1546. http://digitalcommons.law.villanova.edu/thirdcircuit_2008/1546

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UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE THIRD CIRCUIT

No. 06-4275

FREDERICK HAESLER, JR.; SANDREENA; WANDA BREWSTER; TERESA TALESE; JANET THOMAS, for themselves and all others similarly situated,

Appellants

v.

NOVARTIS CONSUMER HEALTH, INC. ; CIBASELF-MEDICATION FT. WASHINGTON HOURLY EMPLOYEES PENSION PLAN a/k/a Novartis Corporation Fort Washington Hourly Employees’ Pension Plan,

Appeal from the United States District Court for the District of New Jersey (D.C. Civil Action No. 05-cv-00372) District Judge: Honorable Joseph A. Greenaway, Jr.

Argued February 8, 2008

Before: MCKEE, AMBRO and ALDISERT, Circuit Judges

(Filed: February 22, 2008) Kent Cprek, Esquire (Argued) Jennings Sigmond, Esquire 510 Walnut Street The Penn Mutual Towers, 16th Floor Philadelphia, PA 19106-3683

Counsel for Appellants

Christopher G. FitzPatrick, Esquire Paul L. Kattas, Esquire Kelley, Drye & Warren 200 Kimball Drive Parsippany, NJ 07054

Charles B. Wolf, Esquire (Argued) Philip L. Mowery, Esquire Alixon J. Maki, Esquire Vedder, Price, Kaufman & Kammholz 222 North La Salle Street, Suite 2600 Chicago, IL 60601

Counsel for Appellees

OPINION

AMBRO, Circuit Judge

Participants in the Novartis Corporation Fort Washington Hourly Employees’

Pension Plan, which is sponsored by Novartis Consumer Health, Inc., appeal from the

District Court’s dismissal of their complaint for failure to state a claim for which relief

can be granted. Our review of the dismissal is plenary. See Rowinski v. Salomon Smith

Barney Inc.,

(3d Cir. 2005).

2 The Participants allege a plethora of violations of the Employee Retirement

Income Security Act of 1974 (“ERISA”), 29 U.S.C. §§ 1001–1461. In a succinct yet

thorough opinion, see Haesler v. Novartis Consumer Health, Inc., No. 05-372 (JAG),

(D.N.J. Sept. 18, 2006) (incorporating in part its reasoning in Haesler

v. Novartis Consumer Health, Inc.,

(D.N.J. 2006)), the District

Court, per Judge Greenaway, explained why the Participants have failed to state a claim

for which relief can be granted. Having reviewed the parties’ submissions and heard oral

argument, we essentially agree with Judge Greenaway’s reasoning. We accordingly

affirm.

3