Opinion ID: 1232908
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: Violation of Eighth Circuit Precedent

Text: CRST and the Participants also argue Central States's expulsion violated our opinion in Cent. States, Se. and Sw. Areas Pension Fund v. CRST, Inc., 641 F.2d 616 (8th Cir.1981). CRST and the Participants contend CRST, Inc. adjudicated the contractual authority of Central States under ERISA and limited the authority to situations involving employees and plan participants. CRST's and the Participants' argument creates a legal question which we review de novo. See Sheehan v. Guardian Life Ins. Co., 372 F.3d 962, 966 (8th Cir. 2004). In CRST, Inc., 641 F.2d at 617, we addressed whether CRST is required to make available to [Central States] for audit purposes the employment and earnings records of all CRST employees including employees who may not be covered by a collective bargaining agreement requiring contributions to the Funds on their behalf. To address the issue, we analyzed Central States's audit authority under the contractual documents and ERISA. Id. at 618. We held Central States's audit authority was limited to information of employees covered by a collective bargaining agreement because (1) the audit provision was limited to employees, (2) the definition of employees only encompassed employees covered by a collective bargaining agreement, and (3) ERISA limited Central States's audit right to its contractual authority. [3] Id. at 618-19. CRST, Inc. did not limit Central States's contractual expulsion authority to only situations involving employees. First, CRST, Inc. involved a provision expressly limited to covered employees. CRST and the Participants cite the following statement for support of their argument: fiduciary obligations mandated by ERISA are owed only to participants and beneficiaries ... who may become eligible to receive a benefit from an employee benefit plan ... [and not] [n]on-covered employees Id. at 619. This statement, however, did not limit Central States's contractual abilities under the Trust Agreement. The statement instead cited 29 U.S.C. § 1104 and outlined the broad fiduciary duties of pension fund trustees under ERISA to protect the fund. See Cent. Transp., 472 U.S. at 570-71, 105 S.Ct. 2833 (citing 29 U.S.C. § 1104 when discussing the powers and fiduciary duties of pension plan trustees to carry out the purposes of the trust). The statement also supports our finding that Central States's expulsion authority is not limited to situations involving employees. Article III § 1 authorizes Central States to expel an employer to protect the financial and actuarial viability of the fund. When Central States finds a particular employment practice may threaten to or actually does harm the fund, Central States's authority to expel an employer allows Central States to fulfill its fiduciary obligations to plan beneficiaries and participants to maintain a fund which will be able to pay guaranteed benefits. CRST, Inc. thus did not limit Central States's expulsion authority, and Central States's expulsion of CRST did not violate our precedent. The district court did not err in granting Central States's motion for summary judgment. [4]