Secured The Reversal Of Federal District Court’S Denial Of Surety Company’S Motion To Dismiss Erisa Action By Employee Benefit Funds.

Greenblatt v Delta Plumbing & Heating Corp., 68 F3d 561 (2nd Cir. 1995)

In the ERISA action by employee benefit funds against the surety bond issued as security in favor of the employer, our client, the surety company appealed the District Court’s denial of our motion to dismiss.  Our firm secured a reversal and the Second Circuit adopted our argument that the District Court lacked subject matter jurisdiction because defendant insurer was not an employer as defined by Employee Retirement Income Security Act, the surety bond was a state law question, and the Labor-Management Relations Act did not pre-empt jurisdiction because there was only a tangential relationship between defendant and the collective bargaining agreement with the plumbing company.