Capa, Inc. v. Anchorage Chrysler Center, Inc. Health & Welfare Plan

MEMORANDUM *

Anchorage Chrysler Center (“ACC”) appeals the district court’s judgment in favor of Great-West Life & Annuity (“Great-West”) on its third-party indemnity claim. We affirm. Because the parties are familiar with the factual and procedural history of this case, we will not recount it here.

I

The district court did not err in not awarding equitable relief to ACC pursuant to ERISA, 29 U.S.C. § 1132 (a)(3). ACC did not seek equitable relief under ERISA in its complaint, nor in any of its other pleadings. Rather, ACC sought relief exclusively based on state common law theories, namely as waiver, equitable estoppel, violation of the covenant of good faith and fair dealing, and breach of contract. We cannot say that the district court erred in failing to award relief that the plaintiff did not seek, and we decline to entertain this theory for the first time on appeal. Vincent v. Trend Western Technical Corp., 828 F.2d 563, 570 (9th Cir.1987).

ACC argues that it preserved this issue by referencing ERISA in its pleadings and raising general arguments about the underlying policy of ERISA. However, these fleeting references fall considerably short of the requirement that the…