Opinion ID: 758774
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Standing Generally

Text: 12 In order to have standing to bring a civil action under ERISA, the plaintiff must be a participant in or beneficiary of an ERISA plan. See 29 U.S.C. § 1132(a)(1)(B) (1996); Freeman v. Jacques Orthopaedic and Joint Implant Surgery Medical Group, Inc., 721 F.2d 654, 655 (9th Cir.1983). The applicable statute, 29 U.S.C. § 1002(7), defines participant as any employee or former employee ... who is or may become eligible to receive a benefit of any type from an employee benefit plan.... A former employee may qualify as a participant under ERISA if he has a reasonable expectation of returning to covered employment or ... a colorable claim to vested benefits. Firestone, 489 U.S. at 117, 109 S.Ct. 948 (internal quotations omitted); 2 see Curtis v. Nevada Bonding Corp., 53 F.3d 1023, 1027 (9th Cir.1995). 13 As the district court noted, none of the plaintiffs was an employee of PG & E at the time they filed their suit. 3 It is also clear that the plaintiffs do not have any reasonable expectation at this point of returning to employment with PG & E. Therefore, the plaintiffs must establish that they have a colorable claim to vested benefits under the various PG & E plans in order to have standing. 14