Opinion ID: 1041846
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Benefits Due Under the Plans

Text: We review de novo the district court’s grant of summary judgment. MidAmerican Pension & Emp. Benefits Plans Admin. Comm. v. Cox, 720 F.3d 715, 718 (8th Cir. 2013). Summary judgment is appropriate if there are no genuine disputes of material fact and the moving party is entitled to judgment as a matter of law. Fed. R. Civ. P. 56. The plaintiffs set forth a number of theories why they are entitled to greater benefits under the plans, but they have failed to set forth sufficient evidence to dispute the benefits calculations adopted by the district court. The plaintiffs first argue that the district court erred in excluding certain plaintiffs from the plans. Although they contend that all plaintiffs should have been considered participants in all plans, the plaintiffs have not supported their sweeping allegation with relevant citations to the record or the law. More specifically, they argue that David Ellis and Joe Ellis met the 1974 plan’s requirements for participation and that Maulding and McDowell met the 1983 plan’s requirements for participation. With respect to David Ellis and Joe Ellis, Judge Young determined that “the record indicates that they have indeed received their benefits under the [profit sharing] plan” and that they failed to offer proof that they were entitled to further benefits. It is undisputed that David Ellis and Joe Ellis accepted lump-sum payments after they terminated their employment, and they have not directed us to evidence that shows that they were entitled to additional benefits under the profit sharing plan. With respect to Maulding and McDowell, Judge Young determined that the plaintiffs had not shown evidence that Maulding and McDowell were classified as “officers, clerical, truck drivers, welders, [or] laborers[,]” as the 1983 plan required. They have likewise failed to do so on appeal. The plaintiffs next argue that the 1983 defined benefit plan remains open because it did not merge with the 1974 profit sharing plan or otherwise terminate. Although it is undisputed that the two plans’ assets were consolidated, the plaintiffs -10- contend that the plans themselves were not merged under ERISA. According to their argument, any such merger would have required the 1983 defined benefit plan to be converted to a defined contribution plan before the plans could be merged with the 1974 plan, and there is no evidence that the 1983 plan was so converted. Assuming, without deciding, the legal and factual validity of this argument, the plaintiffs have not explained how it would affect their benefits calculations. All three plaintiffs who participated in the 1983 plan—David Ellis, Joe Ellis, and the late Royce Stripling—took lump-sum distributions when their employment terminated. As set forth above, the plaintiffs have not shown that David Ellis or Joe Ellis are entitled to additional benefits under the profit sharing plan, and they likewise have not presented evidence to show that Royce Stripling’s beneficiary is entitled to benefits beyond those set forth in the district court’s order. The plaintiffs argue that Judge Young erred in determining that the 1997 plan was frozen in 2003. Because the participants had not received proper notice, the argument goes, the amendment freezing the plan was void and benefits should have continued to accrue. See 29 U.S.C. § 1054(h)(1) (providing that a plan “may not be amended so as to provide for a significant reduction in the rate of future benefit accrual unless the plan administrator provides [notice]”). Again, even if the plaintiffs are correct, they have not shown which plaintiffs were affected by the 2003 plan freeze or what the additional benefits should be. The plaintiffs ultimately contend that the defendants’ experts’ calculations of benefits are erroneous. They argue that “neither the Court nor the Prices spent so much as one word attacking Participants’ dissection of the Jewell/Nisbet/Turpin math—not a word.” Appellants’ Br. 25. Again, the plaintiffs failed to present evidence to dispute Nisbet’s and Turpin’s calculations of benefits and did not submit evidence setting forth the amounts that they believed were correct. Similarly, although they contend that certain distributions to the Prices were improper, the plaintiffs have not submitted evidence to show that those distributions adversely -11- affected their accounts. And while they dispute Judge Young’s characterization of the calculations as an accounting, they have offered no proof that the calculations were wrong. The plaintiffs argue that their experts, Kays and Fletcher, opined “that the documents provided by the Prices were insufficient to calculate a benefit under any plan[.]” Appellants’ Br. 39. Both experts testified, however, that plaintiffs’ attorney did not provide them with the documents that the defendants had produced in support of Nisbet’s and Turpin’s calculations. Accordingly, if the plaintiffs’ argument is that their experts could not calculate the benefits due under the plans or otherwise dispute Nisbet’s and Turpin’s calculations, the record does not support it.