Petar Mrkonjic v. Delta Family-Care and Survivorship Plan et al

Filing 114

JUDGMENT by Judge Gary A. Feess: This Court hereby enters judgment pursuant to Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 58 against the Delta Family-Care Disability and Survivorship Plan and the Administrative Committee of Delta Air Lines, Inc., as to Counts I and IV of the Fourth Amended Complaint, and against the Delta Retirement Plan and the Administrative Committee of Delta Air Lines, Inc., as to Count II of the Fourth Amended Complaint as described here. The Court awards Plaintiff a remand of his l ong-term disability benefit claim under the Delta Family-Care Disability and Survivorship Plan for the recalculation of the offsets applied to the long-term disability benefit amount he was awarded from September 23, 2004, forward. On remand, the rec alculation of offsets must eliminate any offset for the receipt of benefits under the Delta Retirement Plan, and any offset for the receipt of the attorney's-fees portion of his workers-compensation award. The recalculation must also consider w hether his Social Security offset used the appropriate rates and whether all of his remaining worker's-compensation award should be considered as part of his offset. The Retirement Plan is further ordered to rescind Plaintiff's retirement election and permit him, at a future date, to retire, consistent with the terms of the Delta Retirement Plan, its administrative practices, and applicable law. The amount of the offset for Plaintiff's Delta Retirement Plan benefits that is eli minated shall not be paid to Plaintiff, but shall be transferred from the applicable Trust for the Delta Family-Care Disability & Survivorship Plan to the applicable Trust for the Delta Retirement Plan. The Administrative Committee's considera tion of these issues on remand shall be treated as if it was an appeal received by the Administrative Committee on the date this Judgment is entered on the docket pursuant to the Administrative Committee's normal process for hearing appeals. J udgment is further entered in favor of Defendants Delta Air Lines, Inc., Doe 1 (Life Insurance Plan), and Doe 2 (Accident Insurance Plan)) the Delta Retirement Plan and the Administrative Committee of Delta Air Lines, Inc., as to Count III of the Fourth Amended Complaint, in favor of the Delta Family-Care Disability Survivorship Plan and the Administrative Committee of Delta Air Lines, Inc., as to Count V of the Fourth Amended Complaint. (MD JS-6, Case Terminated). (bm)

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1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 CHARLES N. BLAND, SBN: 91563 BLAND, NAVARRO & WEBER LLP 444 South Flower Street, Suite 2160 Los Angeles, California 90071 Phone: (213) 833-7990; Fax: (213) 833-7997 Email: cbland@bbnwlaw.com JS-6 J. TIMOTHY Mc DONALD, GA Bar No.: 489420 THOMPSON HINE LLP Two Alliance Center 3560 Lenox Road, Suite 1600 Atlanta, Georgia 30326 Phone: (404) 541-2900; Fax: (404) 541-2905 Email: tim.mcdonald@thompsonhine.com Attorneys for Defendants Delta Family-Care Disability & Survivorship Plan, Delta Air Lines, Inc., and Delta Retirement Plan 10 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 11 CENTRAL DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA 12 13 PETAR MRKONJIC, Plaintiff, 14 15 v. 16 Case No. CV 10-2087 GAF(JCx) JUDGMENT DELTA FAMILY-CARE AND SURVIVORSHIP PLAN, an ERISA PLAN; DELTA AIR LINES, INC., a corporation; DELTA RETIREMENT PLAN, an ERISA plan, The Administrative Committee of Delta Air Lines, Inc., previously named as DOE 3, a plan administrator, DOES 1 through 10, inclusive, 17 18 19 20 21 Defendants. 22 23 This Court hereby enters judgment pursuant to Federal Rule of Civil 24 Procedure 58 against the Delta Family-Care Disability and Survivorship Plan and 25 the Administrative Committee of Delta Air Lines, Inc., as to Counts I and IV of the 26 Fourth Amended Complaint, and against the Delta Retirement Plan and the 27 Administrative Committee of Delta Air Lines, Inc., as to Count II of the Fourth 28 Amended Complaint as described here. The Court awards Plaintiff a remand of his 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 long-term disability benefit claim under the Delta Family-Care Disability & Survivorship Plan for the recalculation of the offsets applied to the long-term disability benefit amount he was awarded from September 23, 2004, forward. On remand, the recalculation of offsets must eliminate any offset for the receipt of benefits under the Delta Retirement Plan, and any offset for the receipt of the attorney’s-fees portion of his worker’s-compensation award. The recalculation must also consider whether his Social Security offset used the appropriate rates and whether all of his remaining worker’s-compensation award should be considered as part of his offset. The Retirement Plan is further ordered to rescind Plaintiff’s retirement election and permit him, at a future date, to retire, consistent with the terms of the Delta Retirement Plan, its administrative practices, and applicable law. The amount of the offset for Plaintiff’s Delta Retirement Plan benefits that is eliminated shall not be paid to Plaintiff, but shall be transferred from the applicable Trust for the Delta Family-Care Disability & Survivorship Plan to the applicable Trust for the Delta Retirement Plan. The Administrative Committee’s consideration of these issues on remand shall be treated as if it was an appeal received by the Administrative Committee on the date this Judgment is entered on the docket pursuant to the Administrative Committee’s normal process for hearing appeals. /// /// /// /// /// /// /// 28 -2- 1 2 3 4 5 6 Judgment is further entered in favor of Defendants Delta Air Lines, Inc., Doe 1 (Life Insurance Plan), and Doe 2 (Accident Insurance Plan)) the Delta Retirement Plan and the Administrative Committee of Delta Air Lines, Inc., as to Count III of the Fourth Amended Complaint, in favor of the Delta Family-Care Disability Survivorship Plan and the Administrative Committee of Delta Air Lines, Inc., as to Count V of the Fourth Amended Complaint. 7 8 Dated: April 14, 2014. 9 10 ____________________________________ The Honorable Gary A. Feess UNITED STATES DISTRICT JUDGE 11 12 13 JS-6 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 -3-

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