McCollum v. Life Insurance Company Of North America et al

Filing 47

ORDER Remanding to Fabristeel Products, Inc., the Plan Administrator. Signed by District Judge Robert H. Cleland. (LWag)

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
FOR THE EASTERN DISTRICT OF MICHIGAN
SOUTHERN DIVISION

MELVIN MCCOLLUM,
Plaintiff,
v.

Case No. 10-11471

LIFE INSURANCE COMPANY OF NORTH
AMERICA, et al.,
Defendants.
/
ORDER REMANDING TO FABRISTEEL PRODUCTS, INC.
Pursuant to this court’s October 23, 2012 order, Plaintiff submitted a proposed
order consistent with the Sixth Circuit’s August 21, 2012 opinion. The Sixth Circuit
concluded that Life Insurance Company of North America (“LINA”) improperly rejected
Plaintiff’s claim for disability benefits but that Plaintiff was not clearly entitled to benefits
because the plan administrator’s decision was incomplete. (Opinion at 16, Dkt. # 42.)
The Sixth Circuit “remand[ed] to the district court with instructions to remand to the plan
administrator to provide a full and fair review.” (Id. at 21.) Plaintiff’s proposed order
follows this direction.
Defendants object to the proposed order arguing that the Sixth Circuit mistakenly
instructed that the case be remanded to the wrong entity. Defendants assert that the
Sixth Circuit, this court, and Plaintiff all agree that Fabristeel Products, Inc. (“Fabristeel”)
is the plan administrator. (Id. at 17.) However, as the Sixth Circuit recognized, LINA
reviewed Plaintiff’s claim for disability benefits. (Id. at 16.) Defendants argue that LINA

is the entity that reviews disability claims and that the case should be remanded to LINA
instead of Fabristeel.
The court acknowledges the merits of Defendants’ objection. LINA may be the
appropriate party to complete a full and fair review of Plaintiff’s disability claim, and
remanding the case to Fabristeel might cause unnecessary delay in determining
whether Plaintiff is entitled to benefits. However, the district court is bound by the Sixth
Circuit’s mandate that unambiguously instructs the court “to remand to the plan
administrator.” See Fort Gratiot Sanitary Landfill, Inc. v. Mich. Dep’t of Natural Res., 71
F.3d 1197, 1202 (6th Cir. 1995) (“The customary procedure on remand creates a duty
on the part of lower courts, which obtain jurisdiction after receiving the mandate of an
appellate court, to obey the terms of the mandate and to carry it into effect.”).
Accordingly,
IT IS ORDERED that the case is REMANDED to Fabristeel Products, Inc., the
plan administrator, to provide a full and fair review of Melvin McCollum’s claim for
disability benefits.

s/Robert H. Cleland
ROBERT H. CLELAND
UNITED STATES DISTRICT JUDGE
Dated: December 6, 2012
I hereby certify that a copy of the foregoing document was mailed to counsel of record
on this date, December 6, 2012, by electronic and/or ordinary mail.
s/Lisa Wagner
Case Manager and Deputy Clerk
[phone]

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