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H. Dale Barrick, Eddie Jay Hutton, L.D. Hull, Jack D. Morgan, and Virgil Pratt v. Oklahoma Gas & Electric Company, 62 F.3d 1428, 10th Cir. (1995)
H. Dale Barrick, Eddie Jay Hutton, L.D. Hull, Jack D. Morgan, and Virgil Pratt v. Oklahoma Gas & Electric Company, 62 F.3d 1428, 10th Cir. (1995)
3d 1428
NOTICE: Although citation of unpublished opinions remains unfavored,
unpublished opinions may now be cited if the opinion has persuasive value on a
material issue, and a copy is attached to the citing document or, if cited in oral
argument, copies are furnished to the Court and all parties. See General Order of
November 29, 1993, suspending 10th Cir. Rule 36.3 until December 31, 1995, or
further order.
The parties are familiar with the facts in this case, and we will not restate them
here. On appeal, the Plaintiffs argue that the district court lacked jurisdiction to
dismiss their complaint.
The district court held that Plaintiffs' state-law breach of contract claim was
indeed preempted by 29 U.S.C. 1144(a). We review this ERISA preemption
determination de novo. Kelso v. General American Life Ins. Co., 967 F.2d 388,
389 (10th Cir.1992).
Under this broad approach, the Plaintiffs' breach of contract claim, when shed
of its obfuscatory layers, clearly "relate[s] to" an employee benefit plan.
Essentially, the Plaintiffs assert that, but for OG & E's failure to inform them of
a planned workforce reduction, they would not have retired and so been able to
participate in the amended benefits plan put into effect shortly after their
retirement. Indeed, the existence of the plan is at the very heart of Plaintiffs'
claim. Therefore, Plaintiffs' common law breach of contract claim is preempted
by 29 U.S.C. 1144(a). See Kelso, 967 F.2d at 390; Settles, 927 F.2d at 509.
7
This conclusion, coupled with Plaintiffs' concession that they cannot state a
viable claim under ERISA, compels us to uphold the district court's dismissal.
AFFIRMED.
This order and judgment is not binding precedent, except under the doctrines of
law of the case, res judicata, and collateral estoppel. The court generally
disfavors the citation of orders and judgments; nevertheless, an order and
judgment may be cited under the terms and conditions of the court's General
Order. 151 F.R.D. 470 (10th Cir.1993)
The Honorable Myron H. Bright, Senior United States Circuit Judge for the
Eighth Circuit, sitting by designation