Opinion ID: 1681928
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: subject-matter jurisdiction under erisa

Text: Sections 1132(a)(1)(B) and (e) of ERISA provide that state courts of competent jurisdiction and district courts of the United States have concurrent jurisdiction of actions by a beneficiary: 1) to recover benefits due under the terms of the plan; 2) to enforce rights under the plan; or 3) to clarify rights to future benefits. Any other civil ERISA action is within the exclusive jurisdiction of the federal courts. 29 U.S.C. § 1132(e)(1) (1988). Accordingly, when a state court suit alleged in terms of a state common-law or statutory cause of action relates to an employee welfare benefit plan, ERISA may preempt the state law in favor of federal law. If, however, the state-law cause of action falls within the scope [5] of one of the three aforementioned classes of actions that are not entrusted exclusively to federal court jurisdiction, the state court has concurrent jurisdiction over the action even in the face of a timely and successful assertion of ERISA preemption and, in the absence of removal to the federal courts, may properly decide the case under the provisions of ERISA. See Ames v. Ames, 776 S.W.2d 154, 157-58 (Tex.1989), cert, denied,  U.S.___, 110 S.Ct. 1809, 108 L.Ed.2d 939 (1990); Commercial Life Ins. Co. v. Superior Court, 47 Cal.3d 473, 253 Cal.Rptr. 682, 764 P.2d 1059 (Cal.1988), cert, denied sub nom. Juliana v. Commercial Life Ins. Co., 490 U.S. 1075, 109 S.Ct. 2087, 104 L.Ed.2d 651 (1989); Duffy v. Brannen, 148 Vt. 75, 529 A.2d 643, 649-50 (1987); Rodriguez v. Travelers Ins. Co., 54 Wash.App. 725, 775 P.2d 973, 974-75, review denied, 113 Wash.2d 1022, 781 P.2d 1323 (1989). An assertion of ERISA preemption in such a case would affect only the choice of law, not the choice of forum. See Gilchrist, 803 F.2d at 1497; Ames, 776 S.W.2d at 157-58.