Court Opinion

ID: 9542915
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-07 16:40:17.919818+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T15:09:15.649323
License: Public Domain

MOSK, J.
I dissent. I strongly disagree not only with the majority’s result but also with their reasoning.
I.
With due deference to the United States Supreme Court, I doubt that it gives the bench and bar helpful guidance when it relies on “common sense” as authority for a decision. Nevertheless the high court has done so in Pilot Life Ins. Co. v. Dedeaux (1987) 481 U.S. 41 [95 L.Ed.2d 39, 107 S.Ct. 1549] and the majority herein hold that conclusion to be controlling.
In Pilot Life, the court finds a “broad common-sense meaning” (id. at p. 47 [95 L.Ed.2d at p. 48, 107 S.Ct. at p. 1553]), a “common-sense view” (ibid.), “a common-sense understanding” (id. at p. 50 [95 L.Ed.2d at p. 49, 107 S.Ct. at p. 1554]), a “common-sense view” (ibid.) and the opinion concludes with a “common-sense understanding” (id. at p. 57 [95 L.Ed.2d at p. 54, 107 S.Ct. at p. 1558]).
In reliance on Pilot Life, the majority seem to assume that there is some pandemic “common sense” that can guide us in the place of reason and authority. It would indeed be comforting if that were so. But unfortunately it is not: “common sense” is in the eye, or mind, of the beholder.
United States Supreme Court cases have used the term “common sense” in a wide variety of contexts. Indeed, a cursory count indicates the expression can be found in more than 500 cases over the past 4 decades alone.
*486For example, the high court has used “common sense” and “subjective” as synonyms. (See, e.g., United States v. Maine (1985) 469 U.S. 504, 525 [83 L.Ed.2d 998, 1014].) In other cases, it has equated “common sense” with probability. (E.g., Basic Inc. v. Levinson (1988) 485 U.S. 224, 246-247 [99 L.Ed.2d 194, 218, 108 S.Ct. 978, 991].) Justice Cardozo wrote of “commonsense accommodation” in Gully v. First National Bank (1936) 299 U.S. 109, 117 [81 L.Ed. 70, 75, 57 S.Ct. 96], and in Monessen Southwestern Ry. Co. v. Morgan (1988) 486 U.S. 330, _ [100 L.Ed.2d 349, 369, 108 S.Ct. 1837, 1852], reference is made to “common experience or common sense.” Mills v. Maryland (1988) 486 U.S. 367, _ [100 L.Ed.2d 384, 406, 108 S.Ct. 1860, 1875], discusses “a common-sense core of meaning.” United States v. Providence Journal Co. (1988) 485 U.S. 693, _ [99 L.Ed.2d 785, 805, 108 S.Ct. 1502, 1514], discerns a “common sense reading” of a statute, as does Boos v. Barry (1988) 485 U.S. 312, _ [99 L.Ed.2d 333, 343, 108 S.Ct. 1157, 1162]. Honig v. Doe (1988) 484 U.S. 305, 323-324 [98 L.Ed.2d 686, 706-707, 108 S.Ct. 592, 604], relies on a “common sense proposition.” Carnegie-Mellon University v. Cohill (1988) 484 U.S. 343, 355-356 [98 L.Ed.2d 720, 733, 108 S.Ct. 614, 622], holds a proposition is “confirmed by common sense,” and United Paperworkers Intern. Union v. MISCO, Inc. (1987) 484 U.S. 29, 44 [98 L.Ed.2d 286, 302-303, 108 S.Ct. 364, 374], concludes a judgment is “firmly rooted in common sense.” For the ultimate, the court in Norwest Bank Worthington v. Ahlers (1988) 485 U.S. 197, 209 [99 L.Ed.2d 169, 181, 108 S.Ct. 963, 970], found “great common sense.” How we are to distinguish between “common sense” and “great common sense” is perplexing.
As a review of the foregoing cases and others like them establishes beyond any dispute, “common sense” is a convenient term. But it is also practically devoid of content.
For instance, in attempting to justify the holding of the court in Peak v. United States (1957) 353 U.S. 43 [1 L.Ed.2d 631, 77 S.Ct. 613], on behalf of the majority Justice Douglas stated, “That seems to us to be the common sense of the matter; and common sense often makes good law.” (Id. at p. 46 [1 L.Ed.2d at p. 635].) But Justice Harlan, writing for himself and two others in dissent, drily observed, “Thus is bad law made.” {Id. at p. 52 [1 L.Ed.2d at p. 638] [dis. opn. of Harlan, J.].) Can it be said that by disagreeing with the majority on a point of law Justice Harlan and his colleagues were guilty of not using “common sense”? I think not.
In Roschen v. Ward (1929) 279 U.S. 337, 339 [73 L.Ed.722, 728, 49 S.Ct. 336], Justice Holmes declared, “there is no canon against using common sense in construing laws as saying what they obviously mean.” Sounds simple. But as Justice Story noted in Barlow v. United States (1833) 7 Pet. (32 U.S.) 404, 411 [8 L.Ed. 728, 731], “There is scarcely any law which does *487not admit of some ingenious doubt.” Are the doubters necessarily declining to use “common sense”? I think not.
In The Kronprinzessin Cecilie (1917) 244 U.S. 12, Justice Holmes referred to what is apparently a specialized form of “common sense”: “Business contracts must be construed with business sense . . . .” (Id. at p. 24 [61 L.Ed. at p. 966].) Apparently that did not satisfy the entire court, for Justices Pitney and Clarke dissented. What kind of sense they preferred was not indicated.
Members of the high court have not been altogether unmindful of the problems associated with “common sense.” In Jacksonville Bulk Terminals, Inc. v. International Longshoremen's Association (1982) 457 U.S. 702 [73 L.Ed.2d 327, 102 S.Ct. 2672], one of the parties argued that a “common sense” interpretation of a statute should be applied. Said Chief Justice Burger in dissent, “the ‘common sense’ meaning of a term is not controlling when Congress has provided ... an explicit definition of a labor dispute. ‘Common sense’ and legislative history ought not to change the meaning of unambiguous words of a statute.” (Id. at p. 727 [73 L.Ed.2d at p. 346] [dis. opn. of Burger, C. J.].)
In In re Primus (1978) 436 U.S. 412 [56 L.Ed.2d 417, 98 S.Ct. 1893], then Justice Rehnquist wrote in dissent that the majority’s “common-sense, distinction [between speech proposing a commercial transaction and other varieties of speech] is subject to manipulation by clever practitioners.” (Id. at pp. 441-442 [56 L.Ed.2d at p. 441] [dis. opn. of Rehnquist, J.].)
In short, I believe that the implied invocation of “common sense” as authority for an opinion of this court is insufficient and as such cannot be helpful to the parties in this case or to the bench and bar in future matters. As Justice Rehnquist explained, the term is “subject to manipulation” and therefore lacks substance.
II.
Real party in interest Joseph V. Juliano (hereinafter Juliano) brought the underlying action for damages against petitioners Commercial Life Insurance Company and Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (hereinafter collectively Commercial Life). In his complaint Juliano alleged in substance that Commercial Life had issued a policy of insurance, sponsored by his employer, establishing an employee welfare benefit plan that provided group term life insurance, accidental death and dismemberment insurance, and benefits *488for major medical expenses, prescription drugs and medicines, and dental care; he was entitled to benefits for treatment of diabetic retinopathy and was so informed by Commercial Life; he received treatment including ophthalmic surgery; at first, Commercial Life paid a small portion of his medical bills, but then wrongfully refused to pay the rest. Juliano asserted, among other causes of action, a claim that Commercial Life had violated its statutory duties under the Unfair Trade Practices Act (Ins. Code, § 790 et seq.), specifically, Insurance Code section 790.03, subdivision (h) (hereinafter section 790.03(h)).
The majority hold that the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (hereinafter ERISA) (88 Stats. 829, as amended, 29 U.S.C. § 1001 et seq.) preempts section 790.03(h) as relevant here and thereby bars Juliano’s claim under that provision. As will appear, they are wrong.
ERISA regulates, among other matters, “employee welfare benefit plans” that, “through the purchase of insurance or otherwise,” provide “medical, surgical, or hospital care or benefits, or benefits in the event of sickness, accident, disability, death, or unemployment . . . .” (ERISA § 3(1), 29 U.S.C. § 1002(1).) Within its sphere, ERISA purports to preempt state law. The act states in a preemption clause that its provisions “shall supersede any and all State laws insofar as they may now or hereafter relate to any employee benefit plan . . . .” (ERISA § 514(a), 29 U.S.C. § 1144(a).) ERI-SA, however, may not and does not preempt state law in its entirety. As relevant here, the act declares in a saving clause that “nothing in this [statute] shall be construed to exempt or relieve any person from any law of any State which regulates insurance . . . .” (ERISA § 514(b)(2)(A), 29 U.S.C. § 1144(b)(2)(A).)
It is plain that ERISA regulates the plan in which Juliano participated. As stated above, Juliano’s employer sponsored a plan providing a variety of insurance coverage and other benefits for its employees.
It is also plain that section 790.03(h) comes within the class of state laws that ERISA purports to preempt. The provision “relate[s] to . . . employee benefit plan[s]” (ERISA § 514(a), 29 U.S.C. § 1144(a)) by defining “unfair claims settlement practices” (§ 790.03(h)).
But it is plainer still that section 790.03(h) is saved from preemption by the express terms of ERISA: the provision clearly “regulates insurance” (ERISA § 514(b)(2)(A), 29 U.S.C. § 1144(b)(2)(A)). As I read their opinion, the majority do not seriously dispute that section 790.03(h) comes within ERISA’s saving clause—nor could they (see Lee v. Prudential Ins. Co. of America (N.D.Cal. 1987) 673 F.Supp. 998, 1000-1001).
*489In spite of the foregoing, the majority hold that section 790.03(h) is not saved from preemption and hence that Juliano’s claim under the statutory provision is barred. In support they assert that ERISA has established a civil enforcement scheme that provides exclusive remedies. That may be true. But ERISA’s scheme defines remedies for the violation of rights granted employees under the terms of plans within the coverage of the act and under the act itself (See ERISA § 502(a), 29 U.S.C. § 1132(a).)1 By contrast, the Unfair Trade Practices Act, of which section 790.03(h) is a part, has established a civil enforcement scheme that provides remedies for the breach of duties imposed on insurers under the laws of the State of California. In a word, the remedies of ERISA may be exclusive in their own sphere, but they do not extend into the sphere occupied by section 790.03(h). (Cf. Mackey v. Lanier Collections Agency & Service (1988) 486 U.S. 825, [100 L.Ed.2d 836, 844-851, 108 S.Ct. 2182, 2185-2191] [ERISA does not bar a state garnishment action against a covered employee welfare benefit plan: the federal act does not provide an enforcement mechanism for collecting judgments against covered plans and hence does not preempt state law in that area].)
Thus, ERISA does not preempt section 790.03(h), but expressly saves the provision as a law “regulat[ing] insurance.” Further, the civil enforcement scheme of the federal statute does not displace the civil enforcement scheme of the state act: the former concerns the rights of employees under covered plans, the latter concerns the duties of insurers under state laws.
*490III.
There is a growing and ominous trend toward federal preemption of issues that belong within the sphere of control by the individual states. And these inroads into traditional federalism are taking place despite their inconsistency with pious rhetoric emanating from Washington about returning government to the people at state and local levels.
The first Californian to sit on the United States Supreme Court, Stephen Field, saw the problem clearly as long ago as the period immediately following the Civil War. In Ex parte Virginia (1880) 100 U.S. 339, 357 [25 L.Ed. 676, 683], he wrote: “Now, if we look into the Constitution, we shall not find a single word, from its opening to its concluding line, nor in any of the amendments in force before the close of the civil war, nor ... in those subsequently adopted, which authorizes any interference by Congress with the States in the administration of their governments, and the enforcement of their laws with respect to any matter over which jurisdiction was not surrendered to the United States. The design of its frarners was not to destroy the States, but to form a more perfect union between them, and, whilst creating a central government for certain great purposes, to leave to the States in all matters the jurisdiction of which was not surrendered the functions essential to separate and independent existence.”
Justice Field took the same position in Virginia v. Rives (1880) 100 U.S. 313, 337 [25 L.Ed. 667, 676]: “It is difficult to believe that the wise men who sat in the convention which framed the Constitution and advocated its adoption ever contemplated the possibility of a State being required to assert its authority over offenders against its laws in other tribunals than those of its own creation, and least of all in an inferior tribunal of the new government. I do not think I am going too far in asserting that had it been supposed a power so dangerous to the independence of the States, and so calculated to humiliate and degrade them, lurked in any of the provisions of the Constitution, that instrument would never have been adopted.”
In the instant case we have a state regulatory statute at issue. In the Sinking-Fund Cases (1879) 99 U.S. 700 [25 L.Ed. 496, 25 L.Ed. 504], a state-created corporation was involved. On that subject Justice Field was emphatic: “In a word, the law of the State undertakes to control and manage the corporation, in all particulars required for the service, convenience, and protection of the public; and can there be a doubt in the mind of any one that over its own creations the State has, within its own territory, as against the United States, the superior authority? . . . Under the Constitution the management of local affairs is left chiefly to the States, and it never entered into the conception of its framers that under it the creations of the *491States could be taken from their control.” (Id. at pp. 768-769 [25 L.Ed. at p. 519].)
In our case the law regulating insurance was brought into existence by the state. Under these circumstances it could not have been contemplated, within constitutional limitations, that enforcement of this state creation should pass exclusively to Washington.
IV.
In conclusion, I would hold that Juliano’s section 790.03(h) cause of action is not barred. Accordingly, I dissent.
Broussard, J., concurred.

 Section 502(a) of ERISA, codified at 29 United States Code section 1132(a), provides as follows.
“A civil action may be brought—
“(1) by a participant or beneficiary—
“(A) for the relief provided for in subsection (c) of this section [concerning requests to the administrator for information], or
“(B) to recover benefits due to him under the terms of his plan, to enforce his rights under the terms of the plan, or to clarify his rights to future benefits under the terms of the plan;
“(2) by the Secretary, or by a participant, beneficiary or fiduciary for appropriate relief under section 1109 of this title [for breach of fiduciary duty];
“(3) by a participant, beneficiary, or fiduciary (A) to enjoin any act or practice which violates any provision of this subchapter or the terms of the plan, or (B) to obtain other appropriate equitable relief (i) to redress such violations or (ii) to enforce any provisions of this sub-chapter or the terms of the plan;
“(4) by the Secretary, or by a participant, or beneficiary for appropriate relief in the case of a violation of 1025(c) of this title [concerning information to be furnished participants];
“(5) except as otherwise provided in subsection (b) of this section, by the Secretary (A) to enjoin any act or practice which violates any provision of this subchapter, or (B) to obtain other appropriate equitable relief (i) to redress such violation or (ii) to enforce any provision of this subchapter; or
“(6) by the Secretary to collect any civil penalty under subsection (i) of this section [for breach of fiduciary duty].”