Joseph W. Hales v. Winn-Dixie Stores, Inc.

500 F.2d 836
CourtCourt of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit
DecidedJuly 12, 1974
Docket73-1153
StatusPublished
Cited by57 cases

This text of 500 F.2d 836 (Joseph W. Hales v. Winn-Dixie Stores, Inc.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Joseph W. Hales v. Winn-Dixie Stores, Inc., 500 F.2d 836 (4th Cir. 1974).

Opinions

FRANK A. KAUFMAN, District Judge.

In an unverified two-count complaint, four former employees of a subsidiary of Winn-Dixie Stores, Inc. (Winn-Dixie) seek under Count I damages1 against [839]*839Winn-Dixie for failure to make payments to them allegedly due under the “Employers Profit Sharing Program of Winn-Dixie Stores, Inc.” (Program) and under Count II recovery under 29 U.S.C. § 308(b) for Winn-Dixie’s alleged failure to provide statutorily required information concerning that Program. 29 U.S.C. § 308(b), a section of the Welfare and Pension Plans Disclosure Act (Act), 29 U.S.C. §§ 301-309, provides:

(b) Any administrator of a plan who fails or refuses, upon the written request of a participant or beneficiary covered by such plan, to make publication to him within thirty days of such request, in accordance with the provisions of section 307 of this title, of a description of the plan or an annual report containing the information required by sections 305 and 306 of this title, may in the court’s discretion become liable to any such participant or beneficiary making such request in the amount of $50 a day from the date of such failure or refusal.

Plaintiffs invoke federal jurisdiction under Count I pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1332(a)(1),2 and under Count II pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1355 and 29 U.S.C. § 308(c).3 The District Court entered summary judgment for Winn-Dixie on both counts, holding: (1) that, as to Count I, the undisputed record shows that no one of the four employees has more than $10,000 in controversy and thus diversity jurisdiction is lacking with regard thereto; and (2) that, as to Count II, Winn-Dixie is not an “administrator” of the Program as that term is defined in 29 U.S.C. § 304(b)(1) and thus is not liable for failing to provide information concerning that Program under 29 U.S.C. § 308(b).

I

It is first incumbent upon us to discuss herein the basis for jurisdiction as to Count II. 28 U.S.C. § 1355 provides :

The district courts shall have original jurisdiction, exclusive of the courts of the States, of any action or proceeding for the recovery or enforcement of any fine, penalty, or forfeiture, pecuniary or otherwise, incurred under any Act of Congress.

No jurisdictional amount requirement exists with regard to Section 1355. See Woods v. Kern, 87 F.Supp. 383, 384 (E.D.Pa.1949); Sampson v. Thomas, 76 F.Supp. 691, 693 (E.D.Mich.1948); Powell v. Rhine, 71 F.Supp. 953, 954 (M.D.Pa.1947). See also Daniel v. First National Bank, 227 F.2d 353, 354, reh. denied, 228 F.2d 803 (5th Cir. 1956), citing at 227 F.2d 354 n. 2, First National Bank v. Morgan, 132 U.S. 141, 144, 10 S.Ct. 37, 33 L.Ed. 282 (1889). However, in order for jurisdiction in this case to exist under Section 1355, 29 U.S.C. § 308(b) must permit a “fine, penalty, or forfeiture” as those words are used in Section 1355. No case known to this Court holds that Section 1355 jurisdiction exists with regard to any Section 308(b) claim on the ground that that latter section permits the imposition of a ‘fine, penalty or forfeiture’ within the meaning of Section 1355.

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Bluebook (online)
500 F.2d 836, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/joseph-w-hales-v-winn-dixie-stores-inc-ca4-1974.