Humana Health Plan v. Nguyen

Defendant, a participant in the API Enterprises Employee Benefits Plan, appealed the district court's grant of summary judgment in favor of Humana, API's Plan Manager. Humana filed suit under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA), 29 U.S.C. 1001 et seq., against defendant seeking, inter alia, an injunction prohibiting him from disposing of an insurance payout and an "equitable lien to enforce ERISA and the terms of the Plan." The court concluded that the district court erred in determining that Humana is an ERISA fiduciary for two reasons: first, the district court's interpretation of the Plan Management Agreement (PMA) is not persuasive where the district court focused on the subrogation and recovery clause, which do not show that Humana had discretion over the Plan or its assets; and second, even if the court interpreted the PMA to give Humana broad power, the district court failed to explain why Humana is not a ministerial agent. Therefore, the court reversed and remanded for further proceedings. View "Humana Health Plan v. Nguyen" on Justia Law