The Sixth Circuit Vindicates The Fourth And Eleventh

The en banc Sixth Circuit reaffirmed what the Fourth and Eleventh Circuits knew all along.

Ever since Cigna v.Amara, 131 S. Ct. 1866 (2011), in which the United States Supreme Court provided fresh theories (e.g., surcharge) of equitable relief under ERISA § 502(a)(3), some members of the plaintiff's bar found a renewed interest in tagging on a claim for equitable relief when seeking employee benefits under ERISA § 502(a)(1)(B). Defendants were quick to say "whoa" - Amara did not change the long-standing rule under Varity Corp. v. Howe, 516 U.S. 489, 116 S. Ct. 1065 (1996) that a claimant seeking benefits under ERISA § 502(a)(1)(B) had an adequate avenue of relief available, making a claim for equitable relief under ERISA § 502(a)(3) duplicative and therefore not appropriate.

In the district courts of the Fourth and Eleventh Circuit, defendants consistently won this battle when seeking to dismiss ERISA § 502(a)(3) claims added to a straight-forward benefits case, the most recent ones being Beckham v. Liberty Life Assurance Co. of Boston, 4 F. Supp. 3d 1266 (M.D. Ala. 2014); Caudle v. LINA, 33 F. Supp. 3d 1288 (N.D. Ala. 2014); Benson v. LINA, 2014 WL 4769601 (E.D.N.C 2014); Esposito v. Wal-Mart, 2014 WL 4104731 (W.D.N.C. 2014); Campbell v. Rite Aid Corp., 2014 WL 3868008 (D.S.C. 2014); Leach v. Aetna, 2014 WL 470064 (D. Md. 2014); Jenkins v. Grant Thorton, 2014 WL 860547 (S.D. Fla. 2014).

However, as part of that battle, defendants often were required to address Rochow v. LINA, 737 F. 3d 415 (6th Cir. 2013), a Sixth Circuit outlier showing up in the claimants' opposition briefs. Rochow involved the quintessential benefit case; the plaintiff sought employee benefits under ERISA § 502(a)(1)(B), and added an ERISA § 502(a)(3) claim. Plaintiff argued that two injuries were involved: (1) the denial of benefits; and (2) the withholding of the benefits during the length of time it took for plaintiff to have the denial reversed. Under the plaintiff's theory of surcharge, the recovery of the plan...