Central States, Southeast & Southwest Areas Pension Fund v. Waste Management of Michigan, Inc.

268 F.R.D. 312, 76 Fed. R. Serv. 3d 1119, 49 Employee Benefits Cas. (BNA) 1231, 2010 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 51229, 2010 WL 2035709
CourtDistrict Court, N.D. Illinois
DecidedMay 19, 2010
DocketNo. 09 C 5216
StatusPublished
Cited by3 cases

This text of 268 F.R.D. 312 (Central States, Southeast & Southwest Areas Pension Fund v. Waste Management of Michigan, Inc.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, N.D. Illinois primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

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Central States, Southeast & Southwest Areas Pension Fund v. Waste Management of Michigan, Inc., 268 F.R.D. 312, 76 Fed. R. Serv. 3d 1119, 49 Employee Benefits Cas. (BNA) 1231, 2010 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 51229, 2010 WL 2035709 (N.D. Ill. 2010).

Opinion

.MEMORANDUM OPINION AND ORDER

William J. HIBBLER, District Judge.

Plaintiff Central States, Southeast and Southwest Areas Pension Fund (the “Pension Fund”), a multiemployer pension fund, brought this suit to enforce the requirements of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA), 29 U.S.C. § 1145, claiming that Defendant Waste Management of Michigan (“Waste Management”) breached an agreement to make contributions to the Pension Fund. The Pension Fund has since moved for summary judgment. Waste Management now moves the Court to order discovery pursuant to Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 56(f). For the reasons set forth below, the Court denies Waste Management’s request for discovery in part and grants it in part.

BACKGROUND

As part of a collective bargaining agreement with Teamsters Local Union Number 247 (“Local 247”) covering the period of February 1, 2005 through January 31, 2009 (the “2005 CBA”), Waste Management agreed to make contributions to the Pension Fund on behalf of certain covered employees. Waste Management also entered into a Participation Agreement that bound it to the terms of the Pension Fund’s Trust Agreement. In December 2008, Waste Management entered into a new collective bargaining agreement (the “2008 CBA”) with Local 247 that purported to abrogate Waste Management’s obligation to make contributions to the Pension Fund.

The Trust Agreement created a Board of Trustees consisting of five employer representatives and five employee representatives. It provided that the Trustees would consider “[a]ll questions or controversies, of whatsoever character, arising in any manner between any parties or persons in connection with the Fund or the operation thereof,” including those concerning “the construction of the language or meaning” of the Trust Agreement. The Trust Agreement also vested the Trustees with “discretionary and final authority” in making all “decisions construing plan documents of the Pension Fund.”

In the July 2009 meeting of the Pension Fund’s Trustees, the Trustees determined that the 2008 CBA did not terminate Waste Management’s obligation to make contributions. When Waste Management refused to abide by the Trustees’ decision, the Pension Fund brought this suit. The Pension Fund has since moved for summary judgment on the basis of the record created by the Trustees in making their determination. Waste Management now moves the Court to order discovery pursuant to Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 56(f), arguing that the Court should consider more than the Trustees’ record in ruling on the motion for summary judgment. Waste Management seeks discovery relating to the Trustees’ potential conflicts of interest in ruling on the dispute underlying the case, the Pension Fund’s historical enforcement of the relevant provisions of the Trust Agreement and Participation Agreement, and information relevant to the Pensions Fund’s damages claim.

DISCUSSION

I. Rule 56(f) standard of review

Rule 56(f) provides relief for a party opposing a motion for summary judgment that [314]*314can show “for specified reasons” that it “cannot present facts essential to justify its opposition.” Fed.R.Civ.P. 56(f). If a court is persuaded by a Rule 56(f) motion, it may deny the motion for summary judgment, order a continuance to allow for further discovery, or “issue any other just order.” Id. The rule “is intended as a safeguard against a premature grant of summary judgment.” King v. Cooke, 26 F.3d 720, 726 (7th Cir. 1994). Thus, courts construe the rule liberally. Id. However, it “is not a shield that can be raised to block a motion for summary judgment without even the slightest showing by the opposing party that his opposition is meritorious.” Korf v. Ball State Univ., 726 F.2d 1222, 1230 (7th Cir.1984) (internal quotation omitted). Thus, “[a] party invoking its protections must do so in good faith by affirmatively demonstrating why he cannot respond to a movant’s affidavits ... and how postponement of a ruling on the motion will enable him, by discovery or other means, to rebut the movant’s showing of the absence of a genuine issue of fact.” Id. (emphasis in original).

II. Summary judgment standard of review

One issue underlying this discovery dispute is the standard of review that the Court must apply in ruling on the pending summary judgment motion. The parties dispute whether the Court should review the Trustees’ construction of the language in the relevant agreements de novo or for an abuse of discretion. Waste Management takes the position that the Court should conduct de novo review, arguing that this more searching review would justify broader discovery. However, much of Waste Management’s argument for discovery centers on the idea that the Trustees’ decision was affected by a conflict of interest. If the Court conducts de novo review, the factors affecting the Trustees’ decision are irrelevant because the Court would be making its own determination based on the facts.

The Pension Fund, on the other hand, argues that the Court should review the record for an abuse of discretion by the Trustees, overturning their decision only if it was arbitrary and capricious. The Pension Fund argues that the standard of review is not really important, however, because the language of the Trust Agreement and Participation Agreement are clear and unambiguous and the Court need not look to extrinsic facts to determine whether the Trustees’ decision was reasonable. This may be the case. However, in order to determine whether the language is clear and unambiguous, the Court would essentially have to address the merits of the summary judgment motion, which has not yet been fully briefed because of the instant discovery dispute. Thus, setting this question aside for the moment, the Court must determine whether the materials Waste Management seeks are even potentially relevant to the Court’s review of the Trustees’ determination.

In support of their arguments on the appropriate standard of review, the parties point the Court to Firestone Tire & Rubber Co. v. Bruch, 489 U.S. 101, 109 S.Ct. 948, 103 L.Ed.2d 80 (1989) and its progeny. In Firestone, the Supreme Court held that in a case under § 1132(a)(1)(B) of ERISA, in which a beneficiary of an ERISA plan challenges a denial of benefits, courts should review the decision by the plan administrator or fiduciary to deny benefits “under a de novo standard unless the benefit plan gives the administrator or fiduciary discretionary authority to determine eligibility for benefits or to construe terms of the plan.” Id. at 115, 109 S.Ct. at 956. When the plan gives the fiduciary such discretion, courts review a denial of benefits under the arbitrary and capricious standard. Tate v. Long Term Disability Plan for Salaried Employees of Champion Intern. Corp. # 506,

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268 F.R.D. 312, 76 Fed. R. Serv. 3d 1119, 49 Employee Benefits Cas. (BNA) 1231, 2010 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 51229, 2010 WL 2035709, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/central-states-southeast-southwest-areas-pension-fund-v-waste-ilnd-2010.