Nixon v. Vaughn

904 F. Supp. 2d 553, 54 Employee Benefits Cas. (BNA) 1173, 2012 WL 4961461, 2012 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 149641
CourtDistrict Court, W.D. Louisiana
DecidedOctober 16, 2012
DocketNo. 2:12-CV-00308
StatusPublished
Cited by2 cases

This text of 904 F. Supp. 2d 553 (Nixon v. Vaughn) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, W.D. Louisiana primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Nixon v. Vaughn, 904 F. Supp. 2d 553, 54 Employee Benefits Cas. (BNA) 1173, 2012 WL 4961461, 2012 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 149641 (W.D. La. 2012).

Opinion

MEMORANDUM RULING

PATRICIA MINALDI, District Judge.

Before the court is a Motion to Dismiss Pursuant to Rule 12(b)(6) [Doc. 10], filed by the defendants, CITGO Petroleum Corporation (“CITGO”) and Fidelity Invest[557]*557ments Institutional Operations Company, Inc. (“Fidelity”). The motion is opposed by the plaintiff, Mary Nixon [Doc. 14]. CITGO and Fidelity filed a Reply to the plaintiffs opposition [Doc. 15]. The undersigned finds that this court does not have subject matter jurisdiction over the instant case because the plaintiffs claims are not completely preempted under ERISA. Therefore, the defendant’s motion is DENIED and the matter is REMANDED to state court.

BACKGROUND

The plaintiff filed this action against her sister (Alice Melinda Vaughn, born Reeves), CITGO, and Fidelity, alleging that her sister fraudulently converted funds the plaintiff was entitled to as a beneficiary under a 401 (k) from the CIT-GO Petroleum Corporation Employee Retirement and Savings Plan. Further, she alleged that CITGO and the plan administrator/record keeper, Fidelity, were negligent in failing to inform her of Ms. Vaughn’s actions.1

The 401(k) originated with the plaintiffs father, Allen Reeves, who had accumulated it while working for CITGO.2 Allen Reeves had named the plaintiffs mother, Cherry Reeves, as sole beneficiary of his 401(k), and Cherry Reeves rolled the 401(k) into a new 401(k) plan when he died in 1995.3 Following that, Cherry Reeves named her daughters, the plaintiff and Ms. Vaughn, as beneficiaries under her new 401(k) plan.4 Cherry Reeves died on August 5, 2007, at which time her 401 (k) passed to the plaintiff and Ms. Vaughn.5 Following this, and allegedly without the plaintiffs consent or knowledge, Ms. Vaughn opened a new 401 (k) account in the plaintiffs name, using the funds from the plaintiffs share of the deceased Cherry Reeves’s 401(k) to do so.6 Fidelity allegedly administered the account.7

According to the plaintiff, when making this transfer, Ms. Vaughn fraudulently listed the plaintiffs address as 607 Tulane Street, Lake Charles, Louisiana.8 The plaintiff asserts that she has never resided at or received her mail at this address, and that in fact it is Ms. Vaughn’s address instead.9 According to the plaintiff, even though Fidelity and CITGO were aware at all times that it was Ms. Vaughn, and not the plaintiff, taking these actions in setting up the new 401 (k) account in the plaintiffs name, they made no attempt to inform the plaintiff of this activity, or to contact her to verify that Ms. Vaughn had given them the right address.10

After setting up the alleged fraudulent 401(k) account, the plaintiff contends that Ms. Vaughn requested that Fidelity close out the account she set up in favor of the plaintiff and to issue a check to the plaintiff for the full amount in the 401(k).11 Ms. Vaughn then requested that the check be sent to 607 Tulane Street.12 Upon Ms. Vaughn’s request, Fidelity issued two checks payable to the plaintiff, for a total [558]*558amount of $17,496.18, which was the entire amount of the 401(k), less an amount withheld for federal income tax, and sent the check to Ms. Vaughn’s address, 607 Tulane Street.13

Upon receipt of these checks at her home, Ms. Vaughn allegedly forged the plaintiff’s signature on the checks without the plaintiffs permission or knowledge, and then deposited them in her personal account for her own use.14 The plaintiff avers that she was never made aware by Ms. Vaughn, Fidelity, or CITGO that a request was made to liquidate the 401(k).15 It was not until much later, after the plaintiff filed her 2008 tax return and the Internal Revenue Service assessed additional taxes, penalties, and interest against her for under-reporting and under paying federal income taxes, that the plaintiff caught on to Ms. Vaughn’s fraudulent activity.16

The plaintiff contends that Ms. Vaughn’s fraudulent actions and CITGO and Fidelity’s negligence (in allowing the fraud to happen) entitle her to damages and attorney’s fees.17 She claims, as itemized damages, $17,496.18, the full amount of the 401(k) allegedly stolen from her by Ms. Vaughn.18 She also requests compensation for taxes, penalties, and interest paid to the Internal Revenue Service as a result of Ms. Vaughn’s unauthorized conversion and liquidation of her 401(k), damages for mental anguish and anxiety, and attorney’s fees.19

The plaintiff originally filed her petition on December 7, 2011 in the 14th Judicial District Court in Calcasieu Parish.20 The defendants timely removed the case to this court on the basis of federal question jurisdiction, alleging that the case arose under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (“ERISA”), 29 U.S.C. § 1001 et seq.21 Fidelity and CITGO now move to dismiss the plaintiffs claims against them under Rule 12(b)(6). The defendants make four arguments: first, that the plaintiffs 401(k) is governed by ERISA, and that ERISA preempts any and all state law causes of action she is bringing;22 second, that they are not proper defendants under ERISA because they are not the plan or plan administrators and did not have discretionary authority over the plan;23 third, that the plaintiffs petition should be dismissed because she has not exhausted the administrative remedy requirement, and instead “marched directly into court;”24 and, fourth, that the plaintiffs claims are time barred, since the 401(k) plan provided for a two year statute of limitations, and she brought her claims more than two years after the alleged violations happened.25

In the plaintiffs Opposition to the Motion to Dismiss, she argues first that ERISA does not preempt her state law remedies, because ERISA preemption only applies in cases that deal with the payout of benefits, and not in this situation, where [559]*559she is alleging that Fidelity and CITGO were negligent in not telling her she was a beneficiary to the 401(k), in not calling to confirm her address, and in letting Ms. Vaughn liquidate the 401(k);26 second, that Fidelity and CITGO are proper defendants, because she has pled sufficient facts to establish that they had discretionary control over the 401 (k) plan;27 third, that the exhaustion of administrative remedies provision should not apply to her, because: (1) she never knew about the 401(k) and thus could not know about the administrative remedy requirement and (2) her claim is for breach of fiduciary duty, which has no remedy exhaustion requirement;28 fourth, she says that her claims are not time-barred, because she had no way of knowing about Ms.

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904 F. Supp. 2d 553, 54 Employee Benefits Cas. (BNA) 1173, 2012 WL 4961461, 2012 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 149641, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/nixon-v-vaughn-lawd-2012.