Opinion ID: 754737
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Entitlement to jury trial

Text: 30 Tischmann argues that, even if ERISA governed his claim for severance benefits, he was entitled to a jury trial. This contention is without merit. In Sullivan v. LTV Aerospace and Defense Co., 82 F.3d 1251, 1258-59 (2d Cir.1996) we held that there is no right to a jury trial in a suit brought to recover ERISA benefits. Tischmann argues that in Schonholz, decided shortly after Sullivan, a panel of this Court seemed to contemplate that, on remand, the plaintiff's claim for ERISA benefits would be tried to a jury. See Schonholz, 87 F.3d at 79-80. The Schonholz passages are clearly dicta. Moreover, in DeFelice v. American Int'l Life Assurance Co. of New York, 112 F.3d 61, 64 (2d Cir.1997), we reaffirmed that Sullivan made clear that cases involving ERISA benefits are inherently equitable in nature, not contractual, and that no right to jury trial attaches to such claims. Accordingly, Tischmann was not entitled to jury trial. 5