Gonzales v. Phelps Dodge Miami, Inc.

MEMORANDUM *

Frank Gonzales and several similarly situated plaintiffs (collectively, “Gonzales”) appeal the district court’s grant of summary judgment in favor of defendant Phelps Dodge Miami, Inc. (“Phelps Dodge Miami”), and its denial of Gonzales’s cross-motion for summary judgment. Established precedent from this circuit compels the court to affirm the district court’s decision. Because the parties are familiar with the facts of this case, we recount them here only as necessary.

The court reviews de novo the grant of summary judgment. Cinelli v. Sec. Pac. Corp., 61 F.3d 1437 , 1440-41 (9th Cir. 1995). It reviews the district court’s decision “in the light most favorable to the nonmoving party to determine whether any dispute of material fact exists and whether the district court properly applied applicable law.” Id. at 1441.

Benefits provided in a welfare plan do not vest automatically under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (“ERISA”). Curtiss-Wright Corp. v. Schoonejongen, 514 U.S. 73, 78 , 115 S.Ct. 1223 , 131 L.Ed.2d 94 (1995); Grosz-Salomon v. Paul Revere Life Ins. Co., 237 F.3d 1154, 1160 (9th Cir.2001). As a result, an employer is “generally free…