Tapley v. Locals 302 & 612 of the International Union of Operating Engineers-Employers Construction Industry Retirement Plan

James Tapley and Michael Chapman appeal a judgment of the district court upholding the interpretation of plan language by the Trustees of their pension plan. The Trustees determined that appellants’ respective post-retirement jobs as a traffic flagger and snow plow operator fell into the same “job classification” as their former union jobs as skilled mechanics. On that basis, each appellant was precluded from working his job if he wanted to collect retirement benefits. Tapley and Chapman brought suit against the Trustees under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (“ERISA”), 29 U.S.C. § 1001 et seq., alleging that the Trustees’ interpretation of plan language was an abuse of discretion. The district court affirmed the Trustees’ decisions. We have jurisdiction under 28 U.S.C. § 1291 , and we reverse.

I. Background

The relevant facts are largely undisputed. Appellants James Tapley (“Tapley”) and Michael Chapman (“Chapman”) spent the bulk of their careers working as skilled mechanics and members of the International Union of Operating Engineers (“the Union”) in Alaska. Tapley worked as a heavy duty mechanic, station mechanic, fabricator, and welder from…