Court Opinion

ID: 9483936
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-05 09:36:11.513038+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T17:49:55.872115
License: Public Domain

NATHANIEL R. JONES,
concurring in the judgment.
I am in general agreement with the majority’s opinion. Furthermore, because Gill v. Moco Thermal Indus., Inc., 981 F.2d 858 (6th Cir.1992) controls the result of this case, I feel obliged to concur in the result reached in this ease. I write separately to indicate that my reading of the agreements (the General Operating Agreement [GOA] and the Retiree Agreement) between Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Michigan (BCBSM) and Douglas Components Corp. (now Universal Components Corp. [Universal]) is slightly different *1006from that of the majority of this panel and of the panel in Gill.
Among other things, I read the GOA and the Retiree Agreement to say the following: 1) Universal agreed with BCBSM to allow BCBSM to provide benefits to Universal’s retirees; 2) retirees who are eligible will receive the benefits described therein; and 3) BCBSM or Universal can terminate the agreements upon thirty days’ notice. I do not read the agreements to create an agreement between Universal and the Plaintiffs-Retirees for the provision of welfare benefits. In addition, I do not read the agreements to explicitly state when Universal can terminate any welfare benefits it may have promised its retirees, as opposed to when it can cancel this specific plan. Based on the foregoing, I would find that these agreements are silent as to when Universal can terminate any promise of benefits it may have made to the Plaintiffs-Retirees.