Herzog v. Graphic Packaging International, Inc.

742 F.3d 802, 57 Employee Benefits Cas. (BNA) 2228, 2014 WL 553653, 2014 U.S. App. LEXIS 2760
CourtCourt of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit
DecidedFebruary 13, 2014
DocketNo. 13-1717
StatusPublished
Cited by136 cases

This text of 742 F.3d 802 (Herzog v. Graphic Packaging International, Inc.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Herzog v. Graphic Packaging International, Inc., 742 F.3d 802, 57 Employee Benefits Cas. (BNA) 2228, 2014 WL 553653, 2014 U.S. App. LEXIS 2760 (7th Cir. 2014).

Opinion

WILLIAMS, Circuit Judge.

Richard Herzog passed away in April 2009. For years before his death, while working for Graphic Packaging International, Inc. (“GPI”), he had a supplemental life insurance policy and listed his wife, Maureen Herzog, as a beneficiary. But during an open enrollment period at the end of 2008, Richard’s supplemental life insurance policy was cancelled. Maureen suspected that someone other than her husband was responsible for the change in benefits. Richard had been diagnosed with stage 4 cancer in September 2008 and Maureen could not conceive of why her husband would cancel a life insurance policy when he knew his death was imminent. After an unsuccessful attempt to obtain records from GPI, Maureen filed suit against the company and its insurer, ABC Insurance Company (“ABC”), to recover benefits under the supplemental life insurance policy.eventually filed a motion for summary judgment which the district court granted. Maureen now appeals.

Maureen presents two arguments on appeal. She contends that the district court abused its discretion in granting Defendants’ motion to strike her affidavit. But she never presented her arguments against the motion to strike in an opposition memorandum before the district court, despite a local rule requiring her to do so. That same local rule allowed the [804]*804court to grant Defendants’ motion as a sanction for Maureen’s non-compliance, and the district court acted within its discretion in enforcing the rule. Maureen also contends that the district court erred in awarding summary judgment to Defendants. We see no error. The district court correctly determined that there was no material issue of fact as to whether Richard cancelled his supplemental life insurance policy. Although Maureen speculated that someone other than Richard terminated the policy, she presented no evidence to support her assertion. Because she had no evidence from which a reasonable juror could find in her favor on that issue, summary judgment was appropriate. We affirm.

I. BACKGROUND

Richard worked for GPI for 25 years until his death in April 2009. As part of his benefits package, Richard received a basic life insurance policy through GPI’s health and welfare plan. Richard also paid for an optional supplemental life insurance policy through GPI for several years prior to his death. Richard’s wife, Maureen, was named as the beneficiary on both policies.

At the end of 2008, when the time came for GPI workers to select their benefits for the coming year, Richard’s package changed. His supplemental life insurance policy was cancelled. Instead of his supplemental life insurance, Richard’s benefits package included life insurance policies for his wife and children as well as an accidental death and dismemberment (AD & D) policy for himself. Richard’s pay stubs reflect the termination of his supplemental policy. While his 2008 stubs showed deductions for supplemental life insurance premiums, these notations disappeared in January 2009. Nor do they appear on the stubs for the subsequent months leading up to his death. When Richard died a few months later, GPI’s insurance company, ABC, paid Maureen benefits on Richard’s basic life insurance policy. But ABC refused to make any payments on Richard’s supplemental life insurance policy.

The timing of the cancellation seems odd. In September 2008, Richard was diagnosed with stage 4 cancer. Despite knowing that his life would likely soon end, two months after the diagnosis (when the open enrollment period came around) it appears that Richard terminated the supplemental life insurance policy. Soon after Richard’s death, Maureen wrote GPI through counsel requesting any information the company had regarding Richard’s supplemental life insurance policy. The company refused Maureen’s request, citing its confidentiality policy, and told her that the information would only be produced in response to a subpoena.

Almost two years after receiving GPI’s letter, Maureen filed suit against GPI and ABC in Wisconsin state court for breach of contract. In her complaint, Maureen asserted that either GPI or ABC breached the supplemental life insurance policy by terminating it without Richard’s consent. Defendants removed the matter to federal court because Maureen’s claim arose under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (“ERISA”), 29 U.S.C. §§ 1001 et seq.

Eight months later, Defendants moved for summary judgment. In response, Maureen argued that the termination of her husband’s supplemental life insurance immediately after his cancer diagnosis was sufficient, standing alone, to defeat summary judgment. She contended that a reasonable juror could infer that Defendants, not Richard, terminated the supplemental policy based solely on the timing of the termination. In support, Maureen filed an affidavit in which she asserted that GPI cancelled Richard’s supplemental life [805]*805insurance without his consent. Defendants moved to strike that paragraph and other portions of Maureen’s affidavit on the basis that they concerned matters outside her personal knowledge.

The district court awarded summary judgment to Defendants. Because the undisputed evidence established that the supplemental life insurance policy was not in effect at the time of Richard’s death, the court ruled that Maureen’s claim for those benefits failed as a matter of law. The court also granted Defendants’ motion to strike Maureen’s affidavit citing a local rule authorizing a court to grant a motion as a sanction for a nonmoving party’s failure to respond. Maureen now appeals both rulings.

II. ANALYSIS

A. No Abuse of Discretion in Granting Motion to Strike

Maureen first argues that the district court erred in granting Defendants’ motion to strike two paragraphs of her affidavit.1 “We review the district court’s grant or denial of a motion to strike for abuse of discretion.” Bernstein v. Bankert, 733 F.3d 190, 216 (7th Cir.2013).

The district court did not abuse its discretion in granting Defendants’ motion as a sanction for failing to comply with the local rules. The Eastern District.of Wisconsin requires all parties to file any memorandum and other papers in opposition to a motion (other than a motion for summary judgment and another type of motion not relevant here) “within 21 days of service.” Civil L.R. 7(b) (E.D.Wis.). Unresponsive parties are subject to penalties: “Failure to file a memorandum in opposition to a motion is sufficient cause for the Court to grant the motion.” Civil L.R. 7(d) (E.D.Wis.). Maureen did not follow the rules because she never filed an opposition to the motion to strike. The court acted well within its discretion in granting Defendants’ motion as a sanction for Maureen’s noncompliance.2 See Benuzzi v. Bd. of Educ. of the City of Chicago, 647 F.3d 652, 655 (7th Cir.2011) (“District courts have broad discretion to enforce and require strict compliance with their local rules.”).

B. District Court Correctly Awarded Summary Judgment to Defendants

Maureen also contends that the district court erred in granting Defendants’ motion for summary judgment on her ERISA claim.

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742 F.3d 802, 57 Employee Benefits Cas. (BNA) 2228, 2014 WL 553653, 2014 U.S. App. LEXIS 2760, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/herzog-v-graphic-packaging-international-inc-ca7-2014.