Hearn
Hearn v. Western Conference of Teamsters Pension Trust Fund
Opinion
Lead Opinion
Kozinski, J.
We must determine whether ERISA § 205(c)(6), 29 U.S.C. § 1055 (e)(6), absolves a pension plan of all liability to a surviving widow after her deceased husband waived her right to benefits without obtaining her consent.
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From 1961 to 1976 (and briefly in 1986), James Hearn’s employer made contributions on his behalf to the Western Conference of Teamsters Pension Plan. In 1991, Mr. Hearn applied for retirement benefits. Under ERISA, he was required to take them as a joint and survivor annuity, 1 unless he elected otherwise within the 90 days before the annuity began. See ERISA §§ 205(a)(1), (c)(l)(A)(i), & (c)(7)(A). To waive the joint and survivor annuity, Mr. Hearn had to get his wife’s written consent or establish to the satisfaction of a plan administrator that he couldn’t, either because he had no wife or couldn’t locate her. See ERISA § 205(c)(2).
Mr. Hearn got a single life annuity by falsely informing the Plan’s administrator, the Western Conference of Teamsters Pension Trust Fund, that he was single. Relying on this representation and its own records (which disclosed no contrary evidence), the Trust Fund paid benefits under a single life annuity until Mr. Hearn’s…