Opinion ID: 217949
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: ERISA Equitable Estoppel: Claim 1 of the AC.

Text: ERISA preempts state law causes of action, including state law promissory estoppel claims. See Averhart v. U.S. WEST Mgmt. Pension Plan, 46 F.3d 1480, 1485 (10th Cir.1994). While some other circuits have created a federal common-law cause of action premised on equitable estoppel in the ERISA context, see, e.g., Pell v. E.I. DuPont de Nemours & Co., 539 F.3d 292, 300 (3d Cir.2008), we have yet to recognize such a claim. Callery v. U.S. Life Ins. Co., 392 F.3d 401, 407 (10th Cir. 2004). We have left open the possibility that an ERISA estoppel claim might be viable in egregious cases, such as where the employer lied, engaged in fraud, or intended to deceive the participants, id. at 407-08, or where the claim was premised on the employer's interpretation of an ambiguous provision in the plan, Averhart, 46 F.3d at 1486. In this case we need not determine whether to adopt an estoppel claim in the ERISA context. Plaintiffs do not allege circumstances such as lies, fraud, or intent to deceive. See 1 Aplt.App. 57-59. Further, as we held above, the Plan unambiguously reserved to Qwest the right to amend or terminate the Basic Life Coverage. Accordingly, Plaintiffs' equitable estoppel claim would fail as a matter of law even if we were to adopt the ERISA equitable estoppel cause of action. We therefore affirm the district court's decision dismissing Claim 1 of the AC.