Neil Winterrowd v. American General Annuity Insurance Co.

321 F.3d 933 Neil WINTERROWD; Kevin Yurkus; Gregory Stopp, Plaintiffs-Appellants, v. AMERICAN GENERAL ANNUITY INSURANCE CO., a Texas Corporation; Patrick Grady; The Western National Corporation Job Security Plan, Defendants-Appellees. No. 01-57184. United States Court of Appeals, Ninth Circuit. Argued and Submitted February 5, 2003. Filed March 5, 2003. COPYRIGHT MATERIAL OMITTED William G. Wheatley, Jr., Law Offices of William G. Wheatley, Jr., Del Mar, CA, for the appellants. D. Ward Kallstrom, Sonnenschein Nath & Rosenthal, San Francisco, CA, for the appellees. Appeal from the United States District Court for the Central District of California; Christina A. Snyder, District Judge, Presiding. D.C. No. CV-00-00677-CAS. Before: HALL, THOMPSON, and BERZON, Circuit Judges. OPINION CYNTHIA HOLCOMB HALL, Circuit Judge: 1 Neil Winterrowd, Kevin Yurkus, and Gregory Stopp appeal the district court's grant of summary judgment in favor of American General Annuity Insurance Company ("AGAIC"). The district court held that Appellants' breach of contract claim was preempted by the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974, 29 U.S.C. § 1001 , et seq. ("ERISA"). The sole issue on…