Rivera v. Los Alamos National Security, LLC

85 F. Supp. 3d 1290, 60 Employee Benefits Cas. (BNA) 1191, 2015 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 17622, 2015 WL 590533
CourtDistrict Court, D. New Mexico
DecidedFebruary 5, 2015
DocketNo. CV 14-00780 WJ/GBW
StatusPublished

This text of 85 F. Supp. 3d 1290 (Rivera v. Los Alamos National Security, LLC) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, D. New Mexico primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Rivera v. Los Alamos National Security, LLC, 85 F. Supp. 3d 1290, 60 Employee Benefits Cas. (BNA) 1191, 2015 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 17622, 2015 WL 590533 (D.N.M. 2015).

Opinion

MEMORANDUM OPINION AND ORDER REMANDING TO STATE COURT PURSUANT TO 28 U.S.C. § 1447(C)

WILLIAM P. JOHNSON, District Judge.

THIS MATTER comes before the Court upon Defendant Los Alamos National Security, LLC’s Notice of Removal (Doc. 1), filed August 27, 2014, and upon Defendant’s Motion to Dismiss Plaintiff’s Complaint (Doc. 7), filed September 26, 2014. Having reviewed the parties’ briefs and applicable law, the Court finds that it lacks subject-matter jurisdiction over this action. Accordingly, pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1447(c), this matter is REMANDED to state court.

BackgRound

According to the allegations in the complaint, which the Court accepts as true for [1293]*1293present purposes, Plaintiff Mark Rivera was employed by Defendant at Los Ala-mos National Laboratory until his termination on November 12, 2013. When Plaintiff self-reported in October 2012 that he had been charged with misdemeanor hunting law violations, Defendant suspended his security clearance, acquired his New Mexico Game and Fish Department file, and forwarded that file to the Department of Energy. Plaintiff claims that Defendant’s personnel “viewed [him] as an unlawful hunter” and thereafter “were motivated in part by the goal of causing revocation of [Plaintiff]’s security clearance, potentially leading to his termination of employment.” Although the Departmentof Energy eventually reinstated Plaintiffs .security clearance, Defendant claimed to have eliminated his position in the interim due to lack of funding. When Plaintiff could not find other work with Defendant within thirty days, Defendant terminated his employment. Plaintiff claims this termination violated of two of Defendant’s policies: P713-1, which governs reductions in force at Los Alamos National Laboratory,1 and P734, which addresses the impact of an employee’s loss of security clearance.

Plaintiffs complaint, filed in state court on July 23, 2014, alleges three state-law claims. See (Doc. 1 Ex. A), Complaint. In Count I, Plaintiff alleges that the terms and conditions of his employment formed an express or implied contract that Defendant breached by failing to follow P713-1, P734, and other policies concerning the confidentiality of employment and security records. Id. at 5. Count II alleges breach of implied covenant of good faith and fair dealing due to Defendant’s wrongful acts: Id. Finally, Count III alleges a prima facie tort, as Plaintiff contends that “Defendant’s acts were intended to injure [him] or taken with reckless disregard for the certainty that such acts would harm Plaintiff.” Id. at 6. Plaintiff seeks, inter alia, “[a]ctual and compensatory damages sufficient to make [him] whole.” Id. at 7.

Defendant filed its Notice of Removal in this Court on August 27, 2014, pursuant to 28 U.S.C. §§ 1331 and 1441. As grounds for removal, Defendant states that P713-1 is governed by the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of '1974 (“ERISA”), 29 U.S.C. § 1001 et seq. As such, Defendant argues that Plaintiffs state law claims regarding his termination, if proven, would describe a violation of ERISA § 510, which prohibits interference with rights protected by ERISA. Therefore, Defendant concludes, the claims are completely preempted under ERISA § 502, the law’s civil enforcement provisions.

Defendant later filed a motion to dismiss, contending that Plaintiff fails to state any claims under state law because his causes of action are completely preempted by ERISA’s civil enforcement provisions. The crux of Defendant’s position is that “[a]ll three counts of the Complaint are premised on the allegation that Plaintiffs employment was terminated in violation of [P713-1], which provides severance benefits to eligible employees.”

Discussion

Although this matter comes before the Court in part on a motion to dismiss for failure to state a claim, Defendant’s motion — -indeed, Defendant’s removal of this case — implicitly raises questions of subject-matter jurisdiction. See Felix v. Lucent Techs., 387 F.3d 1146, 1160 n. 14 (10th Cir.2004) (noting that complete preemption is “a subject matter jurisdictional require[1294]*1294ment” (quotation omitted)).. If, as Defendant asserts, Plaintiffs claims are subject to complete preemption under ERISA, then this Court has jurisdiction over the matter and may proceed to consider Defendant’s motion to dismiss. On the other hand, if Plaintiff is correct that his claims are not completely preempted by ERISA, then jurisdiction cannot exist pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1331 since all of his claims are grounded in state law. In that case, the Court will be required to remand the matter to state court for any further proceedings. See 28 U.S.C. § 1447(c).

Because it would be improper for the Court to weigh the legal sufficiency of Plaintiffs claims if subject-matter jurisdiction is lacking, the Court begins by addressing the question of ERISA preemption from a jurisdictional standpoint. Since Defendant seeks to invoke the Court’s jurisdiction via removal, it bears the burden of establishing that such jurisdiction exists. See Huffman v. Saul Holdings Ltd. P’ship, 194 F.3d 1072, 1079 (10th Cir.1999). “Doubtful cases must be resolved in favor of remand.” Thurkill v. Menninger Clinic, Inc., 72 F.Supp.2d 1232, 1234 (D.Kan.1999) (citing Laughlin v. Kmart Corp., 50 F.3d 871, 873 (10th Cir.1995)).

I. ERISA Preemption of State-Law Claims

“The purpose of ERISA is to provide a uniform regulatory regime over employee benefit plans. To this end, ERISA includes expansive pre-emption provisions which are intended to ensure that employee benefit plan regulation would be ‘exclusively a federal concern.’ ” Aetna Health Inc. v. Davila, 542 U.S. 200, 208, 124 S.Ct. 2488, 159 L.Ed.2d 312 (2004) (internal citations omitted). Although this sounds simple enough in theory, “[a]ny court forced to enter the ERISA preemption thicket sets out on a treacherous path.” Kidneigh v. UNUM Life Ins. Co. of Am., 345 F.3d 1182, 1184 (10th Cir.2003) (quotation omitted). Part of the difficulty revolves around determining the nature of the asserted preemption itself.

ERISA preemption comes in two flavors: “(1) ‘conflict preemption’ and (2) remedial or ‘complete preemption..’ ” Coldesina v. Estate of Simper,

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Bluebook (online)
85 F. Supp. 3d 1290, 60 Employee Benefits Cas. (BNA) 1191, 2015 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 17622, 2015 WL 590533, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/rivera-v-los-alamos-national-security-llc-nmd-2015.