Moyle

MEMORANDUM **

The district court did not err in dismissing Geoff Moyle’s (“Moyle”) cause of action under 29 U.S.C. § 1132 (a)(1)(B) because Moyle failed to exhaust administrative remedies to obtain clarification of his future rights to benefits. See Amato v. Bernard, 618 F.2d 559 (9th Cir.1980). The summary plan materials gave the plan administrator the authority to determine the right of beneficiaries to a distribution under the Benefit Plan and authorized the plan administrator to interpret the terms of the Benefit Plan. These provisions gave Moyle an administrative procedure for seeking clarification of his rights to future benefits, and therefore he was required to exhaust such administrative remedies. See Diaz v. United Agrie. Employee Welfare Benefit Plan and Trust, 50 F.3d 1478, 1483-84 (9th Cir.1995).

We also affirm the district court’s holding that because Moyle never filed a formal claim, the one-year limitation period in the Benefit Plan does not apply. Moreover, on this record, Moyle is not precluded from raising his request for clarification of his rights to future benefits or, at the appropriate time, a claim for such benefits, in federal court after exhausting his…