Barlow v. Marriott Corp.

328 F. Supp. 624, 28 A.F.T.R.2d (RIA) 5873, 1971 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 12603
CourtDistrict Court, D. Maryland
DecidedJune 30, 1971
DocketCiv. No. 70-710
StatusPublished
Cited by9 cases

This text of 328 F. Supp. 624 (Barlow v. Marriott Corp.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, D. Maryland primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Barlow v. Marriott Corp., 328 F. Supp. 624, 28 A.F.T.R.2d (RIA) 5873, 1971 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 12603 (D. Md. 1971).

Opinion

FRANK A. KAUFMAN, District Judge.

On August 15, 1960, defendant established a trust fund pursuant to an Employees’ Profit Sharing Savings & Retirement Plan and Trust, pursuant to which defendant and its employees have since made contributions, and pursuant to which management and control of the fund is said to be vested in three trustees, who are appointed by, and serve at the pleasure of, defendant’s board of directors. Plaintiffs allege that the plan, as established originally, provided that — ■

* * * an employee who terminated after ten years service was entitled to receive his full proportionate share of the combined contributions and the total earnings thereon accumulated in the Fund. An employee who terminated with less than ten years service was entitled to participate fully in the earnings of the Fund to the extent of his vested interest.
Article 14.13 of the plan states:
This plan is intended to qualify as a tax exempt Profit Sharing Plan pursuant to the provisions of Section 401 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1954 together with any amendments thereto.

In accordance therewith, defendant sought and obtained a ruling from the Internal Revenue Service that the plan qualified under sections 401 et seq. of the Internal Revenue Code, 26 U.S.C. § 401 et seq.1

The plaintiffs, six former employees of defendant who contributed to defendant’s profit sharing trust, allege that defendant amended the plan in 1964 and 1967, in contravention of the original amendment provision, by eliminating or paring down rights of employees who had terminated their employment by defendant. Plaintiffs contend that the effect of those changes,

* * * in addition to constituting a breach of contract with each terminated employee, effectively discriminates in favor of Marriott officers, supervisory personnel and highly compensated employees since such persons as a class enjoy a disproportionate share of the earnings of the Pension Fund as affected by the amendments. The forbidden discrimination is accomplished as follows:
The rate of earnings of the Pension Fund upon the accumulated employer contributions has substantial[626]*626ly exceeded the annual rate of return allowed or allowable by the Trustees to the accounts of terminated employees.
The excess of earnings (measured by the difference between the amount allowed terminated employees by the Trustees and the amount actually realized on Fund investment proportionate to the accumulated contributions of these terminated employees) is transferred to the capital accounts of current employees.
By virtue of their management positions, Marriott officers, supervisory personnel and highly compensated employees tend to have greatter longevity of employment with Marriott than the average employee or those in the lower employee levels and thereby disproportionately enjoy the accretions of earnings of the Fund allocable to current employees at the expense of terminated employees.

That discrimination, plaintiffs urge, disqualifies the plan under 26 U.S.C. § 401(a) (4).2 Accordingly, plaintiffs contend, the actions of defendant’s board of directors, in enacting such amendments, constituted not only a breach of trust but a violation of federal rights created by the Congress in favor of plaintiffs and other employees covered by the plan.

The plaintiffs, alleging that two of them are citizens of Maryland, two of Florida, one of Connecticut, and one of Utah, seek to institute this action as a class suit pursuant to Rule 23 of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure on behalf of themselves and other employees of defendant. Two of the plaintiffs, Barlow and Curtis, are said to have claims each exceeding Ten Thousand Dollars ($10,000.00). Defendant is alleged to be a Delaware corporation with its principal offices located in Maryland. No claim of diversity jurisdiction is asserted by plaintiffs pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1332. Rather, plaintiffs assert the ex-istance of federal jurisdiction under 28 U.S.C. §§ 1331 and 1340. Section 1331 (a) provides:

§ 1331. Federal question; amount in controversy; costs
(a) The district courts shall have original jurisdiction of all civil actions wherein the matter in controversy exceeds the sum or value of $10,000, exclusive of interest and costs, and arises under the Constitution, laws, or treaties of the United States. [Emphasis supplied.]

Section 1340 provides:

§ 1340. Internal revenue; customs duties
The district courts shall have original jurisdiction of any civil action arising under any Act of Congress providing for internal revenue, or revenue from imports or tonnage except matters within the jurisdiction of the Customs Court.

Defendants have moved to dismiss under Rule 12(b) of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, contending, inter alia, that the complaint does not pose a federal question. This Court hereby “assume[s] jurisdiction to decide whether the allegations state a cause of action on which the court can grant relief * * Bell v. Hood, 327 U.S. 678, 682, 66 S.Ct. 773, 776, 90 L.Ed. 939 (1946), and upon so doing, holds, for the reasons set forth infra, that subject matter jurisdiction is lacking. Therefore, this Court does not reach the question of whether plaintiffs have stated an appropriate class action, either with or without reference to principles enunciated in Snyder v. Harris, 394 U.S. 332, 89 S.Ct. 1053, 22 L.Ed.2d 319 (1969). See also Dierks v. Thompson, 414 F.2d 453 (1st Cir. 1969); and C. Wright, Law of Federal Courts 315-316 (1970 ed.).

Nor does this Court reach the question of whether the $10,000 requirement is or is not to be read into 28 U.S.C. § 1340 [627]*627or whether Snyder v. Harris, supra, has any different application with regard to § 1340 than § 1331 or § 1332. And finally, at this time, there is no need for this Court to determine whether the relief sought herein is declaratory in nature and/or is barred by the provisions of 28 U.S.C. § 2201

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Bluebook (online)
328 F. Supp. 624, 28 A.F.T.R.2d (RIA) 5873, 1971 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 12603, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/barlow-v-marriott-corp-mdd-1971.