Opinion ID: 78513
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: CSDA's Complaint

Text: CSDA's allegations in its single-count complaint are essentially the same as those of Egan and Rutt, in that they assert Anthem violated the CUTPA through improper denials of necessary services and failing to comply with ERISA's procedural requirements. The question, then, is whether CSDA, as an association, has standing under ERISA. CSDA contends that it lacks standing because it provided no services and thus could not have obtained derivative standing through an assignment. Anthem argues that CSDA need not obtain assignments or provide medical services to obtain standing because it has associational standing though the assignments that some of its members (Rutt and Egan) have obtained. Although this Court has not considered the issue, other courts have concluded that a trade group may obtain statutory standing under ERISA through associational standing. See Pa. Psychiatric Soc'y v. Green Spring Health Servs., Inc., 280 F.3d 278, 284-87 (3d Cir.2002) (holding that an association of psychiatrists may have associational standing to assert claims on behalf of its members against managed care organizations); Self-Ins. Inst. of Am., Inc. v. Korioth, 993 F.2d 479, 484-85 (5th Cir. 1993) (concluding that a trade group of employers and plan sponsors had statutory standing because its members were fiduciaries who would have standing to sue in their own right); So. Ill. Carpenters Welfare Fund v. Carpenters Welfare Fund of Ill., 326 F.3d 919, 922 (7th Cir.2003) (holding that a union had standing to sue if its members were participants in the ERISA plan being challenged). A trade association has standing to sue on behalf of its members when three requirements are met: (a) its members would otherwise have standing to sue in their own right; (b) the interests it seeks to protect are germane to the organization's purpose; and (c) neither the claim asserted nor the relief requested requires the participation of individual members in the lawsuit. Hunt v. Wash. State Apple Adver. Comm'n, 432 U.S. 333, 343, 97 S.Ct. 2434, 2441, 53 L.Ed.2d 383 (1977). Even if CSDA met the first two requirements for associational standing, it cannot meet the last one. Generally, an association seeking damages on behalf of its members cannot claim associational standing. See United Food & Commercial Workers Union Local 751 v. Brown Group, Inc., 517 U.S. 544, 554, 116 S.Ct. 1529, 1535, 134 L.Ed.2d 758 (1996). Damage claims are incompatible with associational standing because such claims usually require individualized proof. Warth v. Seldin, 422 U.S. 490, 515-16, 95 S.Ct. 2197, 2214, 45 L.Ed.2d 343 (1975). Although CSDA seeks both declaratory and injunctive relief, which are normally appropriate relief for associational standing, it also seeks compensatory and punitive damages on behalf of its members, which will require individualized proof of harm. Thus, CSDA could not establish all the requirements for associational standing. Consequently, CSDA's claim is not completely preempted because it lacks standing to sue under ERISA.