Nester v. Bank One Corp.

224 F. Supp. 2d 1344, 2002 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 18739, 2002 WL 31159479
CourtDistrict Court, D. Utah
DecidedApril 4, 2002
Docket2:01-cr-00521
StatusPublished
Cited by1 cases

This text of 224 F. Supp. 2d 1344 (Nester v. Bank One Corp.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, D. Utah primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Nester v. Bank One Corp., 224 F. Supp. 2d 1344, 2002 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 18739, 2002 WL 31159479 (D. Utah 2002).

Opinion

MEMORANDUM DECISION

SAM, Senior District Judge.

This matter is before the court on motion of defendants Bank One and John B. McCoy to dismiss all claims with prejudice. Defendant John B. McCoy has also filed a motion to dismiss the claims filed against him for lack of personal jurisdiction. The motions have been fully briefed and none of the parties has requested oral argument. Pursuant to DUCivR T — 1(f), the motions will be determined by the court on the basis of the written memoranda of the parties.

It is first necessary to address a procedural matter that was not covered in the parties’ briefs on the motion under Fed. R.Civ.P. 12(b)(6). That Rule provides:

If, on a motion asserting the defense numbered (6) to dismiss for failure of the pleading to state a claim upon which relief can be granted, matters outside the pleading are presented to and not excluded by the court, the motion shall be treated as one for summary judgment and disposed of as provided in Rule 56, and all parties shall be given reasonable opportunity to present all material made pertinent to such a motion by Rule 56.

In opposing the motion to dismiss all claims with prejudice, plaintiff has referred to and filed with the court the Affidavit of Judith A. Nester. The affidavit references and attaches a credit card application which was sent to plaintiffs deceased husband. It is also of interest to the court that the parties’ briefs address “disputed” and “undisputed” facts in a manner consistent with pleading requirements for a motion for summary judgment under Rule 56, but neither party suggests conversion of the motion to dismiss.

Courts have broad discretion in determining whether or not to accept materials beyond the pleadings in connection with a motion to dismiss. See Lowe v. Town of Fairland, Oklahoma, 143 F.3d 1378, 1381 (10th Cir.1998), citing 5A Charles Alan Wright & Arthur R. Miller, Federal Practice and Procedure Section 1366 (1990). “[I]f a plaintiff does not incorporate by reference or attach a document to its complaint, but the document is *1346 referred to in the complaint and is central to the plaintiffs claim, a defendant may submit an indisputably authentic copy to the court to be considered on a motion to dismiss.” GFF Corp. v. Associated Wholesale Grocers, Inc., 130 F.3d 1381, 1384 (10th Cir.1997) (citations omitted). In our case, the documents in question, the affidavit and the credit card application, were submitted by plaintiff, not defendant. As such, the plaintiff is obviously on notice of their contents and the general rationale for conversion to summary judgment dissipates. See GFF, 130 F.3d at 1385.

Accordingly, the court finds conversion unnecessary in the instant case. The court will not consider matters outside the pleadings in connection with the motion under Rule 12(b)(6) and therefore need not convert the motion to one under Rule 56. It is unquestionably inappropriate to consider plaintiffs affidavit in connection with the 12(b)(6) motion to dismiss since the sufficiency of the complaint is the only issue before the court.

Turning to the motion to dismiss all claims, “a 12(b)(6) motion should not be granted ‘unless it appears beyond doubt that the plaintiff can prove no set of facts in support of his claim which would entitle him to relief.’ ” Id. at 1384. “All well-pleaded factual allegations in the complaint are accepted as true, [citation omitted], and viewed in the light most favorable to the nonmoving party, [citation omitted].” Id.

Accepting plaintiffs well-pleaded factual allegations, as distinguished from legal conclusions, the court finds she has alleged several instances of mailings being sent to her deceased husband. All specific references were to mailings and communications regarding defendant Bank One’s pension benefits, although plaintiff also referenced other unspecified mailings. Plaintiff also alleges defendants failed to respond to her telephone and written requests to stop mailing correspondence to her deceased husband. 1 Plaintiff finally alleges she suffered severe emotional distress as a result of defendants’ actions already described.

Defendants first argue that ERISA preempts any and all of plaintiffs claims since they clearly “relate to” or “grow out of’ defendant Bank One’s administration of its pension and benefit plans. ERISA law is well developed and clearly holds, as cited by defendants, where the parties are “principal ERISA entities,” as in the case before this court, common-law claims such as intentional infliction of emotional distress and negligence or negligent infliction of emotional distress are preempted whenever they seek to “provide remedies for misconduct growing out of the administration of the ERISA plan.” Airparts Co. v. Custom Benefit Services of Austin, 28 F.3d 1062, 1064-65 (10th Cir.1994), cited in Defs. Reply at 3. The court finds any and all claims asserted by plaintiff involving correspondence received or sent which relates to her claim on her husband’s pension benefits are preempted by ERISA. This includes the correspondence referenced in paragraphs a — f in defendants’ memorandum in support of motion to dismiss all claims at p. 3. Plaintiffs own communications belie any attempt to characterize the correspondence at the heart of the parties’ dispute as only “tangentially” involved with the administration of the plan. Rather, the court is persuaded that failure to find preemption would result in the very type of intrusion sought to be avoided by the broad pre-emptive statutory scheme.

*1347 In addition, the court finds an alternative, but equally compelling basis for granting the motion to dismiss. Even accepting all of plaintiffs factual allegations as true, including that at least one mailing was unrelated to defendant Bank One’s pension plan, plaintiff has not carried her pleading burden of alleging facts which, if true, would entitle her to relief for the torts of intentional infliction of emotional distress and negligence or negligent infliction of emotional distress. The elements of a claim for intentional infliction of emotional distress include “(1) outrageous conduct by the defendant; (2) the defendant’s intent to cause, or the reckless disregard of the probability of causing; (3) severe emotional distress; and (4) an actual and proximate link between the tortious act and the emotional distress”. White v. Blackburn, 787 P.2d 1315, 1317 (Utah Ct.App.1990).

The Utah Supreme Court has provided guidance for interpreting element one.

The conduct must evoke outrage or revulsion; it must be more than unreasonable, unkind, or unfair.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
224 F. Supp. 2d 1344, 2002 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 18739, 2002 WL 31159479, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/nester-v-bank-one-corp-utd-2002.