Juan Miranda v. R. A. Audia

Plaintiffs-appellants filed this class action in 1975 challenging the San Diego County Laborers Pension Trust Fund’s 15-year minimum service vesting rule. The defendants are the trust fund and its trustees. Plaintiffs, construction laborers, claimed that the Fund’s pension eligibility rule, requiring at least 15 years covered employment in the industry in order to earn a vested right to a pension at retirement age, violated § 302(c)(5) of the Labor Management Relations Act, 29 U.S.C. § 186 (c)(5). The district court held a full trial, and based upon its detailed findings of fact, concluded that the rule veas not arbitrary or capricious. The court then denied plaintiffs’ motion under Fed.R.Civ.P. 59 to alter or vacate its decision based upon the recent Ninth Circuit decision in Ponce v. Construction Laborers Pension Trust, 628 F.2d 537 (9th Cir. 1980). We affirm.

The San Diego County Laborers Pension Trust Fund (Fund) was established in 1963 pursuant to a collective bargaining agreement between Local 89 of the Laborers International Union of North America and San Diego area contractors. The Fund is administered by a board of trustees comprised of equal numbers of employer and…