Abraha v. Colonial Parking, Inc.

243 F. Supp. 3d 179, 2017 WL 1052558, 2017 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 39384
CourtDistrict Court, District of Columbia
DecidedMarch 20, 2017
DocketCivil Action No. 16-680 (CKK)
StatusPublished
Cited by16 cases

This text of 243 F. Supp. 3d 179 (Abraha v. Colonial Parking, Inc.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, District of Columbia primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Abraha v. Colonial Parking, Inc., 243 F. Supp. 3d 179, 2017 WL 1052558, 2017 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 39384 (D.D.C. 2017).

Opinion

MEMORANDUM OPINION

COLLEEN KOLLAR-KOTELLY, United States District Judge

This'matter is brought by Plaintiffs on behalf of themselves and a putative class of similarly situated former and current employees of Defendant Colonial Parking, Inc. (“Colonial”) against Colonial and Defendant FCE Benefit Administrators, Inc. (“FCE”) for alleged violations of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (“ERISA”). The purported violations stem primarily from FCE’s alleged charging of excessive administrative fees.

Presently before the Court are FCE’s [5] Motion to Dismiss and Motion to Strike, [6] Motion to Take Judicial Notice, and Colonial’s [12] Motion to Dismiss. Upon consideration of the pleadings,1 the [183]*183relevant legal authorities, and the record for purposes of the pending motions, the Court DENIES FCE’s [5] Motion to Dismiss and Motion to Strike, GRANTS FCE’s [6] Motion to Take Judicial Notice, and GRANTS IN PART AND DENIES IN PART Colonial’s [12] Motion to Dismiss.2 Plaintiffs’ section 1133 claim against Colonial is DISMISSED WITHOUT PREJUDICE. Plaintiffs’ other claims against Defendants may proceed.

I. BACKGROUND

The Court accepts as true the well-pleaded factual allegations of the Complaint, as it must on a motion to dismiss for failure to state a claim. The Court presents only those factual allegations that are relevant to its disposition of the pending motions.

Plaintiffs are Colonial employees who worked as parking lot attendants, earning approximately $2,000 per month in gross wages. Compl. ¶¶ 8, 34. Because Colonial contracts with federal agencies, it must comply with the McNamara-O’Hara Service Contract Act, which requires Colonial to “to pay a set amount per employee per hour for fringe benefits.” Id. ¶ 3. Colonial complies with this requirement by funding a benefits plan known as the “The Forge Company (Colonial Parking) Death, Dismissal, Wage/Unemployment Benefit ‘Reserve’ Employee Account” (the “Plan”). Id. ¶ 4. Colonial has retained FCE to administer the Plan, which operates as follows: Colonial contributes money to the ... Plan, FCE allocates the contribution to each [employee participant’s] [separate account], and then it withdraws money for payments of insurance premiums and fees to FCE and others. Amounts not used for those purposes are held in trust for the employee participants where they are credited with a share of the ... Plan’s investment earnings.” Id. ¶ 5. All agree that the Plan is subject to ERISA.

Prior to October 2006, FCE administered, the Plan for a nominal fee of $4.50 per employee participant. Id. ¶ 24. However, beginning in October 2006, two events occurred that allegedly resulted in a dramatic increase in the fees charged by FCE. First, the medical and other insurance premiums that Colonial had previously paid directly for its employees were instead funneled through the Plan, which increased the amount of contributions to the Plan. Id. ¶25. At the same time, FCE’s fee went from a fixed amount per participant, to one based on a percentage of the monthly contributions to the Plan. Id. Consequently, the amount of fees charged per participant by FCE increased by as much as twenty-fold. Id. ¶26 (the “fees charged to Plaintiff Akalu went from [184]*184$4.50 per month for the first nine months of 2006 to $108.91 in October 2006 and ha[ve] stayed at that level”). The change in fee structure allegedly inured to the mutual benefit of Colonial and FCE, as it allowed Colonial to shift administrative costs to the Plan, and allowed FCE to reap substantially, larger administrative fees. Id. ¶ 29. According to the Complaint, Colonial and FCE never disclosed the change in fee structure to Colonial’s employees; never explained that medical and insurance contributions to the Plan were effectively subject to a surcharge equal to the percentage-based fee charged by FCE; and deliberately failed to comply with ERISA’s reporting and claims administration obligations in order to conceal the Plan’s operations from its participants. Id. ¶¶ 27, 37-38. Plaintiffs allege a raft of other purported ERISA violations as well, including unexplained changes to Plaintiffs’ account balances, apparent comin-gling of Plan assets, and improprieties with the Plan trustee. Id. ¶¶ 32 -35.

The Complaint also makes reference to a lawsuit filed in the United States District Court for the District of Maryland, Perez v. Chimes District of Columbia, No. 1:15— cv-3315 (D, Md. Oct. 30, 2015), wherein the Secretary of Labor has brought claims against FCE for allegedly charging excessive fees to administer an unrelated benefits plan, and for paying kickbacks to the employer sponsor of that plan. Id. ¶ 9, 39. Plaintiffs relay that it was allegedly FCE’s business practice “to provide financial incentives to employers so that they would conspire in FCE’s extraction of unreasonable fees from the employees.” The Department of Labor is actively investigating FCE in this regard. Id. ¶¶ 41-42.

II. LEGAL STANDARD

Defendants move to dismiss the Complaint for “failure to state a claim upon which relief can be granted” pursuant to Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 12(b)(6). “[A] complaint [does not] suffice if it tenders ‘naked assertion[s]’- devoid of ‘further factual enhancement.’” Ashcroft v. Iqbal, 556 U.S. 662, 678, 129 S.Ct. 1937, 173 L.Ed.2d 868 (2009) (quoting Bell Atl. Corp. v. Twombly, 550 U.S. 544, 557, 127 S.Ct. 1955, 167 L.Ed.2d 929 (2007)). Rather, a complaint must contain sufficient factual allegations that, if accepted as true, “state a claim to relief that is plausible on its face.” Twombly, 550 U.S. at 570, 127 S.Ct. 1955. “A claim has facial plausibility when the plaintiff pleads factual content that allows the court to draw the reasonable inference that the defendant is liable for the misconduct alleged.” Iqbal, 556 U.S. at 678, 129 S.Ct. 1937. In deciding a Rule 12(b)(6) motion, a court may consider “the facts alleged in the complaint,' documents attached as exhibits or incorporated by reference in the complaint,” or “documents upon which the plaintiffs complaint necessarily relies even if the document is produced not .by the plaintiff in the complaint but by the defendant in a motion to dismiss,” Ward v. District of Columbia Dep’t of Youth Rehab. Servs., 768 F.Supp.2d 117, 119 (D.D.C. 2011) .(internal quotation marks omitted). The court may also consider documents in the public record of which the .court may take judicial notice. Abhe & Svoboda, Inc. v. Chao, 508 F.3d 1052, 1059 (D.C. Cir. 2007).

III. DISCUSSION

Plaintiffs bring claims for Defendants’ alleged failure to comply with several statutory obligations imposed by ERISA. The Court addresses each of these in turn, and finds that'Plaintiffs have pleaded sufficient factual matter to state a viable claim under each statutory violation pleaded in the Complaint.

A.' Breach of Fiduciary Duty—§ 1104

ERISA imposes duties of loyalty and prudence on fiduciaries, 29 U.S.C.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
243 F. Supp. 3d 179, 2017 WL 1052558, 2017 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 39384, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/abraha-v-colonial-parking-inc-dcd-2017.