Opinion ID: 1700175
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: issue i: erisa preemption

Text: The first issue in this case, which we raise sua sponte, is whether the provisions of ERISA preempt the state contract action brought by Ewalts. The United States Supreme Court recently ruled that state common law contract and tort actions asserting improper processing of a claim for benefits under an employee benefit plan regulated by ERISA are preempted by the civil enforcement provisions of ERISA § 502(a); Congress intended those provisions to be the exclusive vehicle for actions by ERISA-plan participants and beneficiaries. Pilot Life Ins. Co. v. Dedeaux, ___ U.S. ___, 107 S.Ct. 1549, 95 L.Ed.2d 39 (1987). In a companion case, the Supreme Court ruled that because ERISA-based claims are federal in character, the claims are removable to federal court by the defendants. Metropolitan Life Ins. Co. v. Taylor, ___ U.S. ___, 107 S.Ct. 1542, 95 L.Ed.2d 55 (1987). These Supreme Court decisions were issued after the notice of appeal, notice of review, and briefs were filed in the present case. Therefore, we are faced with the question of whether the decisions should be applied retroactively to the case at hand. As a rule, United States Supreme Court decisions apply retroactively. Solem v. Stumes, 465 U.S. 638, 104 S.Ct. 1338, 79 L.Ed.2d 579 (1984). However, the Constitution neither prohibits nor requires retroactive effect, and in appropriate cases the Court may in the interests of justice rule that a decision has prospective effect only. Id.; Linkletter v. Walker, 381 U.S. 618, 85 S.Ct. 1731, 14 L.Ed.2d 601 (1965); see Annot., 65 L.Ed.2d 1219 (1981). In England v. Louisiana State Bd. of Med. Exam., 375 U.S. 411, 84 S.Ct. 461, 11 L.Ed.2d 440 (1964), the Supreme Court addressed certain procedural rules regarding the litigation of federal claims in state courts. The Court concluded that its decision should be applied prospectively only, since the parties had reasonably relied upon proper authorities, including the decisions of a lower federal court. 375 U.S. at 422, 84 S.Ct. at 468, 11 L.Ed.2d at 449. A similar situation exists here. Prior to the Supreme Court's decisions in Pilot Life and Metropolitan Life, lower federal courts had ruled that common law contract actions were not preempted by ERISA. Cattin v. General Motors Corp., 612 F.Supp. 948 (E.D.Mich. 1985) and cases cited therein; see also Ex Parte Ward, 448 So.2d 349 (Ala.1984). Therefore, absent a United States Supreme Court ruling to the contrary, we will not retroactively apply Pilot Life and Metropolitan Life to the facts of this case.