Guo v. IBM 401(k) Plus Plan

95 F. Supp. 3d 512, 2015 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 38704, 2015 WL 1379788
CourtDistrict Court, S.D. New York
DecidedMarch 26, 2015
DocketNo. 13-CV-8223 (KMK)
StatusPublished
Cited by25 cases

This text of 95 F. Supp. 3d 512 (Guo v. IBM 401(k) Plus Plan) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, S.D. New York primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Guo v. IBM 401(k) Plus Plan, 95 F. Supp. 3d 512, 2015 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 38704, 2015 WL 1379788 (S.D.N.Y. 2015).

Opinion

OPINION AND ORDER

KENNETH M. KARAS, District Judge.

Plaintiff Jean Guo (“Plaintiff’ or “Guo”) filed the instant Complaint under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (“ERISA”), against the IBM 401(k) Plus Plan (the “Plan”); R.A. Barnes, the Plan Administrator (the “Plan Administrator”); and John Does 1-5 (collectively “Defendants”), alleging that the Plan and the Plan Administrator failed to provide Plaintiff with a benefit as required by the terms of the Plan, see 29 U.S.C. § 1132(a)(1)(B), and that the Plan Administrator and John Does 1-5 (collectively the “Plan Fiduciaries”) breached their fiduciary duty, see 29 U.S.C. §§ 11Ó4 and 1132(a)(3). Before the Court is Defendants’ Motion To Dismiss pursuant to Federal Rule . 12(b)(6). (Dkt. No. 15.) Defendants move to dismiss on the basis that Plaintiffs claims are time-barred. For the following reasons, Defendants’ Motion is granted without prejudice to Plaintiff filing an amended complaint.

I. Background

A. Factual Background

The following facts are drawn from Plaintiffs Complaint and certain documents submitted by Defendants that the Court considers, as explained below, and are taken as true for the purpose of resolving the instant Motion.

1. The Benefits Under the Plan

James A. Landor (“Mr. Landor”) worked for International Business Machine Corp. (“IBM”) from August 13, 1979 to February 28, 2010, and was a participant in the Plan. (Compl. ¶ 9 (Dkt. No. 1).) Mr. Landor and his wife divorced in or about December 1993, and Mr. Landor began living with Plaintiff beginning in or about April 1994. (Id. ¶¶ 10-11.) On January 15, 1998, Mr. Landor signed a Designation of Beneficiary Under IBM Tax Deferred Savings Plan form (the “Designation of Beneficiary Form”), indicating that he was unmarried and that he wished to change his beneficiary to Guo. (Id. ¶ 12.) The Plan Fiduciaries did not inform Mr. Landor of the consequences of his alleged failure to complete the “relationship field” on the Designation Beneficiary Form to name Plaintiff as his intended beneficiary. (Id. ¶ 13.)

' On February 28, 2010, Mr. Landor died. (Id.' ¶ 15.) On or about March 17, 2010, the Plan wrote a letter to Mr. Landor’s daughter, Susan Landor (“Ms. Landor”), indicating that she was the beneficiary of Mr. Landor’s Plan account. (Id. ¶ 16.) Plaintiff submitted a copy of the Designation of Beneficiary Form.to the Plan on April 9, 2010. (Id. ¶ 17.) On April 20, 2010, the Plan sent a letter to Plaintiff informing her that she was the beneficiary of Mr. Landor’s Plan account, and also sent a letter to Ms. Landor notifying her that the Plan’s March 17, 2010 letter was in error, the Plan had located a valid beneficiary card, and Ms. Lander would not receive the Plan benefit. (Id. ¶¶ 19-20.)

2. State Court Proceedings

On April 19, 2010, Ms. Landor was granted letters of administration for Mr. Landor’s estate. (Id. ¶ 18.) On or about May 27, 2010, Ms. Landor, as Administratrix for the Estate of James A. Landor, filed a turnover petition against Plaintiff and IBM in the Surrogate’s Court of the State of New York in Duchess County to recover the proceeds of the Plan (the “Petition”). (Id. ¶ 21.) Plaintiff filed a cross-petition on or about July 29, 2010, and Judge Pagones of the Surrogate’s Court [517]*517referred the matter to a referee for a hearing and report. (Id.)

Meanwhile, on July 30, 2010, the Plan sent a letter to Plaintiff informing her of its determination that the Designation of Beneficiary Card was not valid because the “relationship field” had not been completed, Mr. Landor had been notified that the form could not be accepted, and no further attempt had been made to submit a beneficiary designation (the “July 30, 2010 Letter”). (Id. ¶ 22.) In light of the July 30, 2010 Letter, Plaintiff moved on November 2, 2010, the second day of the Surrogate’s Court hearing, to dismiss the Petition because Plaintiff had not exhausted her administrative remedies as she was required to do under ERISA and the Plan. (Id. ¶ 25.) The Surrogate’s Court denied the motion. (Id.) On March 4, 2011, the Surrogate’s Court also denied Plaintiffs motion to dismiss the Petition and withdraw her cross-petition without prejudice and for a stay of the proceedings. (Id. ¶¶ 26, 29.)

The Surrogate’s Court issued a Decision and Decree on March 10, 2011, finding, in relevant part, that Plaintiff had no valid claim to the Plan’s benefit and ordering IBM to turn over the proceeds of the Plan to Ms. Landor as Administratrix by March 31, 2011 (the “Decision and Decree”). (Id. ¶ 30.)

On or about June 6, 2011, the Plan and Plan Administrator moved to intervene in the Surrogate’s Court proceeding as respondents in lieu of IBM. (Id. ¶ 34.) The Surrogate’s Court granted the request on August 22, 2011, and ordered the Plan to pay the benefit to Ms. Landor herself, not as Administratrix, by September 16, 2011 (the “August 22, 2011 Order”). (Id. ¶ 36.)

Plaintiff appealed the Decision and Decree and the August 22, 2011 Order to the New York State Appellate Division, Second Department. (Id. ¶ 39.) On October 9, 2013, the Appellate Division held that:

[B]y granting intervention after the decree was entered, and entering an amended decree directing the Plan to turn over the 401K Plan funds to the petitioner, the Surrogate’s Court precluded Guo from challenging the Plan’s determination, prejudicing Guo’s substantial rights. Accordingly, the untimely motion for leave to intervene should have been denied----Since the Plan and the Plan Administrator are not parties to the proceeding, the question of whether the Plan and the Plan Administrator acted in an arbitrary and capricious manner in rejecting the decedent’s beneficiary designation form ... was not before the Surrogate’s Court, and is not before this Court. Accordingly, that branch of the petition which sought the turnover of the decedent’s 401K Plan funds and the appellant’s cross petition relating thereto must be dismissed without prejudice, for failure to join a necessary party.

(Id. ¶ 40.)

3. Administrative Proceedings

As noted above, the July 30, 2010 Letter informed Plaintiff of the Plan’s determination that the Designation of Beneficiary Card was invalid. (Id. ¶ 22.) In response to the July 30, 2010 Letter, Plaintiffs counsel requested that the Plan reconsider its determination by letter dated November 1, 2010, and sent a follow-up letter to the Plan on November 10, 2010. (Id. ¶ 24.) The Plan responded to Plaintiffs counsel on January 25, 2011, stating that it considered the November 1, 2010 letter as an initial claim for benefits under the Plan claim and appeal process (the “January 25, 2011 Letter”). (Id. ¶27.) The Plan Administrator explained that the Designation of Beneficiary Form completed by Mr. Landor was invalid because the relation[518]*518ship field had not been completed, and the card had been returned to Mr. Landor in 1998. (Id.)

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95 F. Supp. 3d 512, 2015 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 38704, 2015 WL 1379788, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/guo-v-ibm-401k-plus-plan-nysd-2015.