Hartman v. Dana Holding Corp.

978 F. Supp. 2d 957, 57 Employee Benefits Cas. (BNA) 1144, 2013 WL 5707241, 2013 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 150747
CourtDistrict Court, N.D. Indiana
DecidedOctober 21, 2013
DocketCause No. 1:12-CV-445
StatusPublished
Cited by5 cases

This text of 978 F. Supp. 2d 957 (Hartman v. Dana Holding Corp.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, N.D. Indiana primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Hartman v. Dana Holding Corp., 978 F. Supp. 2d 957, 57 Employee Benefits Cas. (BNA) 1144, 2013 WL 5707241, 2013 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 150747 (N.D. Ind. 2013).

Opinion

OPINION AND ORDER

ROGER B. COSBEY, United States Magistrate Judge.

I. INTRODUCTION

In April 2011, Plaintiff Elaine Hartman’s husband, Robert Hartman, passed away. Mr. Hartman was a former employee of Weatherhead Company (“Weatherhead”), Dana Holding Corporation’s (“Dana”) predecessor and, at the time of his death, was receiving a pension from Weatherhead. After he died, Mrs. Hartman contacted Dana to inquire about her survivor annuity and was told her husband had elected against it in 1979. Mrs. Hartman then requested the plan document and summary plan description (“SPD”), together with her husband’s election form and the spousal waiver form, in effect in 1979.

Months later, and after a series of unproductive communications with Dana staff, who indicated that they were still looking for the 1979 plan documents, Mrs. Hartman brought this suit against Dana and the Weatherhead-UAW Combined Hourly Employee Pension Plan1 under 29 U.S.C. § 1132(a)(1)(A) and (c)(1), better known as § 502(a)(1)(A) and (c)(1) of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (“ERISA”), seeking statutory penalties against Dana for its failure to provide the documents she requested as well as attorney’s fees.2 She further alleges that Dana breached its fiduciary duty to her under 29 U.S.C. §§ 1132(a)(2) and 1109 and failed to establish and maintain a reasonable claims procedure as required by 29 U.S.C. § 1133.

Both Mrs. Hartman and Defendants have now moved for summary judgment. (Docket #22, 24.) Defendants primarily argue that Mrs. Hartman lacks standing to assert her claims and that, even if she did have standing, ERISA does not impose a penalty for failure to provide what they characterize as historical documents. (Docket #25, 27, 34.) Mrs. Hartman asserts, among other arguments, that she does have standing as a beneficiary with a colorable claim to benefits and that [962]*962ERISA requires production of the documents she sought if requested, thereby-warranting the imposition of a statutory penalty. (Docket # 23, 28, 29.)

For the following reasons, both Mrs. Hartman’s and Defendants’ motions for summary judgment will be GRANTED IN PART and DENIED IN PART.

II. FACTUAL BACKGROUND

Robert Hartman worked for Weather-head for over twenty-four years, until his early retirement in 1976. (Hartman Aff. ¶ 3, Exs. 1, 2; see Schlievert Aff. Ex. A at 71, 73.3) As a salaried employee, he participated in the Weatherhead Division Pension Plan for Salaried Employees (the “Plan”). (Holmes Aff. ¶3.4) In March 1978, Mr. Hartman received a letter from Weatherhead regarding his deferred vested pension, which he could elect to receive once he turned fifty-five years old. (Hartman Aff. Ex. 2; Schlievert Aff. Ex. A at 71.) The letter informed Mr. Hartman of the following:

If you are married at the time your pension is to commence, it will be paid in a form having the effect of a 50% joint and survivor annuity. This means that you will receive a pension for life, but if you die leaving your spouse as a surviv- or, your spouse will receive, for his or her lifetime, 50% of the pension to which you are entitled.
You may elect to have your pension paid in a form other than that described above. The other forms of payment available to you will be described in detail at the time you elect to have your pension commence.

(Hartman Aff. Ex. 2; Schlievert Aff. Ex. A at 71.)

In 1979, Dana Corporation, which later became Dana Holding Corporation, purchased Weatherhead. (Holmes Aff. ¶4.) Dana Limited, a subsidiary of Dana Holding Corporation, now sponsors and administers the Plan. (Holmes Aff. ¶ 4.)

Mr. Hartman turned fifty-five in May 1979 (see Hartman Aff. Ex. 1), and Weatherhead sent him an election letter with a cover letter stating that a request for early commencement of his pension was enclosed and instructing him to sign the original and return it to Weatherhead (Hartman Aff. Ex. 3; Schlievert Aff. Ex. A at 65). The enclosed election letter provided the following: “I understand that due to early commencement of my Deferred Vested Pension I will receive $96.15 per month on a Life Only Basis. I understand that upon my death no further payments will be made.” (Hartman Aff. Ex. 3; Schlievert Aff. Ex. A at 66.) Mr. Hartman subsequently signed this election form and returned it to Weatherhead. (Hartman Aff. Ex. 3; Schlievert Aff. Ex. A at 59.) Elaine Hartman, Mr. Hartman’s wife, maintains that at all times surrounding her husband’s election and receipt of his pension benefit, he consistently told her that she would be entitled to a survivor annuity if she survived him.5 (Hartman Aff. ¶ 4.) [963]*963According to Mrs. Hartman, she never signed a spousal waiver. (Hartman Aff. ¶10.)

In April 2011, Mr. Hartman passed away. (Hartman Aff. ¶ 5.) Shortly thereafter, Mrs. Hartman contacted Dana to inquire about her survivor annuity and, in response, received a letter dated May 6, 2011, from Dana. (Hartman Aff. ¶¶ 5-6, Ex. 4; Schlievert Aff. Ex. A at 55.) The letter informed Mrs. Hartman that Dana was confirming any benefits she or any other survivors may be entitled to, which could take up to ten days, and instructed her to contact the Dana Service Pension Center with any questions. (Hartman Aff. Ex. 4; Schlievert Aff. Ex. A at 55.) Over three months later, Mrs. Hartman received a second letter from Dana, informing her that her husband had been receiving a single life annuity pension with no further benefits payable after death. (Hartman Aff. Ex. 5; Schlievert Aff. Ex. A at 56.)

On January 16, 2012, Mrs. Hartman and her attorney, Douglas Powers, called the Dana Pension Service Center to inquire about her survivor annuity. (Hartman Aff. ¶ 11(a).) A representative told them that the Dana Pension Service Center would look into the situation and report back, but neither Mrs. Hartman nor Mr. Powers received any response by the end of January. (Hartman Aff. ¶¶ ll(a)-(b).) Throughout the next three months, Mrs. Hartman or her attorney spoke to staff from the Dana Pension Service Center multiple times, inquiring about her surviv- or annuity and repeatedly requesting her husband’s election form, a spousal waiver form, the Plan document, and the SPD in effect when Mr. Hartman made his election in 1979. (See Hartman Aff. ¶¶ 11(b)-(i); Powers Aff. ¶¶ 3(a)-(d).) Some time after Mr. Powers called the Dana Pension Service Center in April 2012 (see Hartman Aff. ¶ 11(g)), Mrs. Hartman received from Dana a SPD for all Weatherhead benefits, including the Plan, which contained a handwritten notation stating, “Effective April 15, 1986-April 1, 1989” (Hartman Aff. ¶ 11(h), Ex. 6). This SPD provided that before a participant with a spouse can elect to receive a pension with no reduction for a survivor benefit, “federal law dictates that [the] spouse give written, witnessed consent to that election.” (Hartman Aff. ¶ 11(h), Ex. 6 at 35.) By this point, Mrs.

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978 F. Supp. 2d 957, 57 Employee Benefits Cas. (BNA) 1144, 2013 WL 5707241, 2013 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 150747, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/hartman-v-dana-holding-corp-innd-2013.