Court Opinion

ID: 9505624
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-06 20:13:16.172249+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T09:04:39.590504
License: Public Domain

BOEHM, Justice,
concurring.
I concur in the majority’s resolution of the ERISA preemption issue. I write separately because the ease may or may not be over, and the Court of Appeals expressed views with which I disagree as to the right to a jury trial in the courts of this state under Article I, Section 20 of the Indiana Constitution.
As the majority opinion observed, ERISA creates a federal statutory claim for recovery of “benefits due to [the beneficiary] 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.” Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA) § 502(a)(1)(B), 29 U.S.C. § 1132(a)(1)(B) (1994 & Supp. III 1997). The Court of Appeals noted that, unlike most claims created by ERISA, an ERISA claim under § 502(a)(1)(B) may be asserted in a state court, but held that even if the Stroups asserted such a claim under ERISA, they would not be entitled to a jury trial. See Midwest Sec. Life Ins. Co. v. Stroup, 706 N.E.2d 201, 207-08 (Ind.Ct.App.1999). Article I, Section 20 of the Indiana Constitution provides that “[i]n all civil cases, the right of trial by jury shall remain inviolate.” The Court of Appeals took the view that this constitutional provision preserved a jury right only in those civil cases triable by jury at common law, and reasoned that because ERISA did not exist at common law, there is no right to a jury trial in an Indiana state court for an ERISA claim. I believe this is an unduly restrictive view of Article I, Section 20.
Both Article I, Section 20 and Indiana Trial Rule 38(A) provide for the right of a trial by jury in certain instances. The right to a jury trial is a “fundamental right in our democratic judicial system” that must be “scrupulously guarded” against encroachment. Levinson v. Citizens Nat’l Bank, 644 N.E.2d 1264, 1267 (Ind.Ct.App.1994). In my view, the crucial inquiry, however, is not, as the Court of Appeals put it, whether a cause of action existed at common law. Rather, it is whether the cause of action is essentially legal or equitable, as those terms were used in 1852. See Midwest Fertilizer Co. v. Ag-Chem Equip. Co., 510 N.E.2d 232, 233 (Ind.Ct.App.1987) (“[T]he key determination to be made is whether the claim involved is legal or equitable in character.”). If an action is essentially legal in nature, a jury demand must be honored, but those causes of action that are equitable may be tried to the court. This formulation can be found in several Indiana decisions, both recent and ancient. See, e.g., Fager v. Hundt, 610 N.E.2d 246, 253 n. 9 (Ind.1993); Lean v. State ex rel. Bd. of Med. Registration & Examination, 233 Ind. 25, 31-32, 116 N.E.2d 503, 507 (1954); Fish v. Prudential Ins. Co., 225 Ind. 448, 452-53, 75 N.E.2d 57, 59 (1947); Martin v. Martin, 118 Ind. 227, 237, 20 N.E. 763, 767-68 (1889).
If the cause of action existed on June 18, 1852, then this issue is decided by history. Legal actions at that time included replev-in, ejectment, fraudulent conveyances, and actions for money damages, see City of Terre Haute v. Deckard, 243 Ind. 289, 293, 183 N.E.2d 815, 817 (1962); Howell v. State Farm Fire & Cas. Co., 530 N.E.2d 318, 319-20 (Ind.Ct.App.1988), while equitable actions included injunctions, reformations, derivative actions, accounting, discovery, and land transactions, see Dean, 233 Ind. at 31-32, 116 N.E.2d at 507; Sikich v. Springmann, 221 Ind. 483, 487-88, 48 N.E.2d 808, 809-10 (1943); Lewandow*170ski v. Beverly, 420 N.E.2d 1278, 1282 (Ind.Ct.App.1981).
If, however, the cause of action is one that was not in existence in 1852, it is necessary to determine whether it is closer . to a claim at law or one in equity. “To determine whether or not a party is entitled to a trial by jury, we look beyond the label given a particular action and evaluate the nature of the underlying substantive claim.” Hacienda Mexican Restaurant v. Hacienda Franchise Group, Inc., 641 N.E.2d 1036, 1041 (Ind.Ct.App.1994). This involves evaluating “the complaint, the rights and interest[s] involved, and the relief demanded.” Levinson, 644 N.E.2d at 1267.
Under the Court of Appeals’ approach in this case, parties filing suit under any statutory scheme that has been developed since 1852 would not be entitled to a jury trial because the cause of action did not exist at common law. Presumably, the same reasoning would deny a jury trial for claims under common law theories — for example, invasion of privacy — that did not' exist 150 years ago. No case seems to suggest that result, and for good reason.
Indiana statutes have created a number of causes of action. Some of these are very much in the nature of tort suits for damages that are, in my view, triable to a jury as a matter of constitutional right. For example, the Indiana legislature has created causes of action for deceptive business practices in the cigarette industry, the- unauthorized use of a watercraft as a plug to make a mold to duplicate the watercraft, and strict liability for defects in products. See Tnd.Code §§ 24-3-2-1 to - 13 (1998); §§ 24-4-8-1 to -7 (1998); §§ 34-20-1-1 to 34-20-9-1 (1998). On the other hand, some are arguably more analogous to traditionally equitable claims. For example, in Arnold v. Dirrim, 398 N.E.2d 426, 438-39 (Ind.Ct.App.1979), a jury demand for a claim under the Indiana Securities Act was held properly refused not because the statutory claim did not exist in 1852, but because it was viewed as essentially a claim for rescission, which was a claim in equity. Finally, in some instances the statute creating a new cause of action will also purport to establish the right to a jury trial. Whether or.not this is a mandate the courts are required to honor, courts generally have granted a jury trial if it is provided by the statute creating a cause of action. See Deig v. Morehead, 110 Ind. 451, 454-55, 11 N.E. 458, 459-60 (1887) (statute governing will contests allows for jury trials); Lake Erie, Wabash & St. Louis R.R. Co. v. Heath, 9 Ind. 558, 561 (1857) (“We may observe that the legislature may prescribe the trial by jury "in cases where the constitution does not give it as a right; but they cannot withhold it in cases where it is so given.”).
There is a split of authority on whether an ERISA claim is equitable or legal in nature. Midwest cites -several federal cases holding that ERISA claims are not entitled to a jury trial. See Blake v. Unionmutual Stock Life Ins. Co., 906 F.2d 1525, 1526 (11th Cir.1990); Wardle v. Central States, Southeast & Southwest Areas Pension Fund, 627 F.2d 820, 829 (7th Cir.1980), abrogation on other-grounds recognized by Casey v. Uddeholm Corp., 32 F.3d 1094, 1099 n. 4 (7th Cir.1994); Allison v. Dugan, 737 F.Supp. 1043, 1047 (N.D.Ind.1990), rev’d in part on other grounds, 951 F.2d 828 (7th Cir.1992). Many of the federal cases discussing the right to a jury trial in ERISA claims seem to stem from Wardle, which analyzed the issue in terms of the legal or equitable nature of the claims. In that case the suit was for benefits under a pension plan. Under trust law, a beneficiary’s suit against the trustee is viewed as an action at law only if it is for an amount due “immediately and unconditionally.” Restatement (Second) of Trusts § 198 (1959). Otherwise, it is in the nature of an equitable claim. The court in Wardle found the claim to be analogous to a claim for benefits under a trust. See 627 F.2d at 829. Whether this reasoning applies to all ERISA § 502(a)(1)(B) claims seems debat*171able. At any rate, some state courts have concluded that ERISA claims require a jury trial because they are similar to suits for breach of contract or are for legal remedies. See Head v. Central Reserve Life, 256 Mont. 188, 845 P.2d 735, 741 (1993); Fuller v. INA Life Ins. Co., 141 Misc.2d 464, 533 N.Y.S.2d 215, 218 (1988); Shaw v. Atlantic Coast Life Ins. Co., 322 S.C. 139, 470 S.E.2d 382, 387 (App.1996); see also Ex parte Metropolitan Life Ins. Co., 679 So.2d 686, 689 (Ala.1996) (concurring opinion). There also appears to be at least some federal authority to that effect. See, e.g., Vicinanzo v. Brunschwig & Fils, Inc., 739 F.Supp. 882, 885-91 (S.D.N.Y.1990) (action for medical and life insurance benefits is essentially contractual and legal in nature requiring a jury trial).
State law, including the state constitution and trial rules, governs whether a right to a jury trial exists in a suit brought in state court even if the cause of action arises under federal law. See Brown v. Gerdes, 321 U.S. 178, 189-90, 64 S.Ct. 487, 88 L.Ed. 659 (1944) (Frankfurter, J ., concurring); Louisville & Nashville R.R. Co. v. Stewart, 241 U.S. 261, 263, 36 S.Ct. 586, 60 L.Ed. 989 (1916); Hiatt v. Yergin, 152 Ind.App. 497, 520-27, 284 N.E.2d 834, 847-50 (1972), overruled on other grounds by Erdman v. White, 411 N.E.2d 653, 656-57 (Ind.Ct.App.1980).2 Indiana constitutional jury trial jurisprudence diverges from the Seventh Amendment in a number of respects. See, e.g., Hiatt, 152 Ind.App. at 520-27, 284 N.E.2d at 847-50 (rejecting Dairy Queen, Inc. v. Wood, 369 U.S. 469, 82 S.Ct. 894, 8 L.Ed.2d 44 (1962), and Beacon Theatres, Inc. v. Westover, 359 U.S. 500, 79 S.Ct. 948, 3 L.Ed.2d 988 (1959)). Thus, even if federal authorities correctly deny a jury trial in federal court for any claim under ERISA § 502(a)(1)(B), the question remains whether a claim in an Indiana court is legal or equitable in nature, and that issue is dispositive of the jury trial right in a state court.
In my view, the state law tort and contract claims the Stroups sought to assert would have been legal in nature as claims for money damages. It is unclear what, if any, ERISA claims the Stroups will bring and what relief they may seek. If and when the Stroups are permitted to amend their complaint to add ERISA claims, whether these claims will support a jury demand is better resolved by the trial court. In the meantime, I write separately because I do not agree with the Court of Appeals as to the right to a jury trial under The Indiana Constitution.
DICKSON, j., concurs.

. This may not be trae if the right to a jury trial is "part and parcel of the remedy afforded” under the federal legislation. Dice v. Akron, Canton & Youngstown R.R. Co., 342 U.S. 359, 363, 72 S.Ct. 312, 96 L.Ed. 398 (1952) (citations omitted) ("[T]he right to trial by jury is too substantial a part of the rights accorded by the [Federal Employers' Liability] Act to permit it to be classified as a mere 'local rale of procedure.'”).