Opinion ID: 453346
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: District Court Opinion and Judgment

Text: 11 The district court, 584 F.Supp. 68, granted summary judgment for ILGWU, holding the Teamsters Fund liable for Mrs. Fazio's medical bills. The court predicated its judgment on the fact that the Exception to Eligibility language in the ILGWU plan excludes coverage for employees if there exists at their spouse's place of employment a group plan that provides for family coverage, whereas the Teamsters plan provides that it will be an excess insurer only if a beneficiary is covered by another plan. The court concluded that, since the Teamsters Fund exists, Mrs. Fazio is not covered by the ILGWU plan. The court further concluded that, because the Teamsters Fund purports to provide excess coverage only where a participant's spouse is covered by another plan and provides primary coverage otherwise, the Teamsters Fund is liable for all of Mrs. Fazio's medical expenses. Influencing the court's analysis was its concern that the ILGWU Fund ought to be able to protect its limited financial resources by shifting liability to the wealthier Teamsters Fund. See Appellant's Appendix at 130a n. 6 (The court recognizes the fact that generally members of the ILGWU have lower salaries than members of the Teamsters Union. It therefore follows that the ILGWU Fund has more limited financial resources from which to draw in distributing.) Finally, the court rejected the Teamsters Fund's argument that the ILGWU Fund provision is discriminatory and in violation of Sec. 1104 of ERISA. 12 The Teamsters Fund appeals. Although both funds maintain that we have jurisdiction over this suit, we expressed concern about this issue at oral argument and requested that the funds file supplemental briefs on this point. In addition to supporting the allegation in its complaint that jurisdiction properly rests on Sec. 1132 of ERISA, the ILGWU Fund contended in its supplemental brief that federal jurisdiction also can be based on 28 U.S.C. Sec. 1331.