Opinion ID: 2982682
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Plaintiffs’ Claims Are Rooted in the SAP

Text: At the outset, we must make clear what this case is about. The gravamen of Plaintiffs’ complaint is that “GM made a written representation to all of the named Plaintiffs in the form of the SAP that the pension amount would be calculated using a formula that included their years of 3 The district court’s order dismissing the claims against Bosch is not a subject of this appeal. 4 No. 13-1664 service at Bosch as well as Delphi and GM.” [R. 27, Second Am. Compl., ¶ 29, PGID 142.] Plaintiffs are not making any claim against GM under the GM Pension Plan. They say as much in their brief before this Court: “The district court refused to see the SAP as an ERISA plan and thus found no violation of it. It also conveniently found no violation of the GM Pension Plan of which no violation was alleged in the first place.” [Docket No. 29, Appellants’ Br., § IV.C.] Plaintiffs’ filings before the district court also make clear that they do not allege a violation of the GM Pension Plan. Plaintiffs appeal the district court’s dismissal of Counts I, II, and IV of their Second Amended Complaint. Count I, the equitable estoppel claim, does not allege a violation of the GM Pension Plan. Rather, Plaintiffs claim that “[t]he reduction of the Plaintiffs’ pension benefits is in direct violation of the plan4 terms under the SAP.” [R. 27, Second Am. Compl., ¶ 56, PGID 145 (footnote added).] Count II is Plaintiffs’ fiduciary duty claim. They allege that GM, as a fiduciary with respect to the Plan, “has and had a duty to discharge its duties with respect to the Plan solely in the interest of the Plan participants and beneficiaries.” [Id. at ¶ 59, PGID 146.] Again, when Plaintiffs say “Plan,” they are referring to the SAP. [See id. at ¶ 5, PGID 136.] In Count IV, the denial of benefits claim, Plaintiffs allege, “Defendants reduction in Plaintiffs’ pension benefit amounts is in direct violation of the terms of the Plan.” [Id. at ¶ 69, PGID 148.] Throughout the operative complaint, Plaintiffs allege various ways in which GM violated provisions of the SAP, but they do not once allege that GM violated any provision of its own pension plan. Similarly, in Plaintiffs’ response to GM’s motion for judgment on the pleadings, they make clear that all of their allegations arise from GM’s actions relating to the SAP. For example, 4 Plaintiffs allege that the SAP “is an employee benefit plan within the meaning of ERISA,” and define the term “Plan,” as used in their complaint, as the SAP. [R. 27, Second Am. Compl., ¶ 5, PGID 136.] 5 No. 13-1664 they argue that GM’s “failure of fiduciary duty” is “based on the misrepresentations it made in the SAP.” [R. 54, Pls.’ Br. in Opp’n to Def. GM’s Mot. for J. on the Pleadings, § II.A., PGID 554.] For purposes of their estoppel claim, they allege that GM’s liability derives from the SAP, and they spend a full page in which they quote or reference the SAP no less than nine times. At one point, Plaintiffs claim that they “were told by Defendant GM multiple times that by accepting the SAP, their pension benefits would effectively reflect the pro-rata share of their combined time at Bosch, GM, and Delphi.” [Id. at PGID 560.] Thus, it is clear that Plaintiffs’ claims are rooted in the SAP, which they maintain is a free-standing pension plan subject to ERISA. [See, e.g., id. at PGID 562 (“The complaint clearly states, ‘On or around 2010, when Plaintiffs became aware that their pension benefits were going to be cut severely, the Plaintiffs challenged the reduction of their pensions through the SAP.’”).]