No. 88-2594

884 F.2d 423 58 USLW 2154 , 11 Employee Benefits Ca 2053 Evelyn SILVERA; Stephen E. Silvera, Plaintiffs-Appellants, v. The MUTUAL LIFE INS. COMPANY OF NEW YORK; Aurora Nido, and Does 1 through 30, Defendants-Appellees. No. 88-2594. United States Court of Appeals, Ninth Circuit. Argued and Submitted April 5, 1989. Decided Aug. 29, 1989. Lawrence A. Puritz, Matthews, Fuqua & Puritz, Chico, Cal., for plaintiffs-appellants. Elliot L. Bien, Bronson, Bronson & McKinnon, San Francisco, Cal., for defendants-appellees. Appeal from the United States District Court for the Northern District of California. Before POOLE, REINHARDT and O'SCANNLAIN, Circuit Judges. O'SCANNLAIN, Circuit Judge: 1 We are called upon to determine whether a municipal employer established or maintained an employee welfare benefit plan within the meaning of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 ("ERISA"), 29 U.S.C. Sec. 1001-1461 , when it purchased a group benefits insurance policy for its employees. We conclude that it did in this case. Since a "governmental plan" is exempt from ERISA, we must reverse the district court. 2 * On April 1, 1985, the Mutual Life Insurance Company of New York…