Olaree Hoppel v. Premera Blue Cross

MEMORANDUM

Olaree E. Hoppel appeals pro se from the district court’s summary judgment in her action for joint and survivor annuity benefits and insurance benefits under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (“ERISA”), as amended by the Retirement Equity Act of 1984. We have jurisdiction under 28 U.S.C. § 1291 . We review de novo, Gilliam v. Nev. Power Co., 488 F.3d 1189 , 1192 n. 3 (9th Cir.2007), and we affirm.

The district court properly granted summary judgment because Hoppel failed to raise a genuine dispute of material fact as to whether defendant provided any life insurance policy to her late ex-husband and whether defendant’s contract to pay him certain retirement income from its operating budget constituted a qualified plan subject to § 1055’s surviving spouse provisions. See 29 U.S.C. § 1055 (stating that certain pension plans must be provided in the form of a qualified joint and survivor annuity benefit); id. § 1051(2) (excluding from § 1055 a pension plan that is unfunded and maintained by an employer to provide deferred compensation for a select group of management or highly compensated employees); see also Nelson v. Pima Cmty. Coll., 83 F.3d 1075 ,…