Opinion ID: 3001092
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: ERISA Fiduciary Duty Claim

Text: Next, Kannapien and Rozhon present ERISA claims for breach of fiduciary duty, also under 29 U.S.C. § 1132(a)(3). In order to prevail on a claim for breach of fiduciary duty under ERISA, a plaintiff must prove (1) that defendants are plan fiduciaries; (2) that defendants breached their fiduciary duties; and (3) that their breach caused harm to the plaintiffs. Jenkins v. Yager, 444 F.3d 916, 924 (7th Cir. 2006); Brosted, 421 F.3d at 465. An ERISA plan fiduciary does not breach its fiduciary duties under ERISA by merely providing negligent misinformation about the contours of a Plan. See Vallone, 375 F.3d at 642; Frahm, 137 F.3d at 955. Neither Satterlee nor Winters is a plan fiduciary under § 3(21)(A) of ERISA. See 29 U.S.C. § 1002(21)(A) (“[A] person is a fiduciary with respect to a plan to the extent (i) he exercises any discretionary authority or discretionary control respecting management of such plan or exercises any authority or control respecting management or disposition of its assets, (ii) he renders investment advice for a fee or other compensation, direct or indirect, with respect to any moneys or other property of such plan, or has any authority or responsibility to do so, or (iii) he has any discretionary authority or discretionary responsibility in the administration of such plan.”). Clearly, Satterlee and Winters do not fit this statutory definition: nothing in the record suggests that either had any managerial, investment, or discretionary role in the Quaker Retirement Plan. No. 06-2543 17 The only cognizable fiduciaries from the record are members of the PepsiCo Administration Committee and Employee Administration Center that served as Plan administrators. However, Kannapien and Rozhon have not sued either Committee or any of their constituent members. Moreover, there is no allegation that Quaker or PepsiCo intended to deceive Kannapien or Rozhon. Indeed, the only misinformation provided to Kannapien and Rozhon by the Plan administrators was contained in the December 2002 estimate statement that erroneously referenced Kannapien’s and Rozhon’s hire dates, but Kannapien and Rozhon concede that this mistake was merely a clerical error and therefore unintentional. Additionally, Kannapien and Rozhon suggest that the misinformation provided to them by Satterlee may be attributed to the Plan administrators. Even looking past the fact that the administrators are not a party to this suit, there is no precedent for this approach. Finding that Plan administrators may breach a fiduciary duty vicariously through the actions of a non-fiduciary would vitiate our requirement that an ERISA claim for breach of a fiduciary duty must be asserted against plan fiduciaries. See Jenkins, 444 F.3d at 924; Bowerman, 226 F.3d at 59091. In any event, there is no evidence that Satterlee intended to deceive Kannapien or Rozhon. His mistake was honest, as we have previously explained.