The Hon. Arthur L. Alarcón, Judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth
*
Circuit, sitting by designation.
NOT RECOMMENDED FOR FULL-TEXT PUBLICATION
File Name: 09a0183n.06
Filed: March 9, 2009
07-1730
UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS
FOR THE SIXTH CIRCUIT
SIMCHA-YITZCHAK LERNER,
Plaintiff-Appellant,
v.
ELECTRONIC DATA SYSTEMS
CORPORATION,
Defendant-Appellee.
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
ON APPEAL FROM THE UNITED
STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE
EASTERN DISTRICT OF MICHIGAN
Before: DAUGHTREY, GILMAN, and ALARCÓN, Circuit Judges.
*
PER CURIAM. The plaintiff, Simcha-Yitzchak Lerner, appeals from the district
court’s dismissal of the claims in his complaint against his former employer, Electronic Data
Systems Corporation (EDS). Invoking diversity jurisdiction, Lerner sought damages from
the company under Michigan law for an alleged breach of contract, fraudulent
misrepresentation, and innocent misrepresentation in the denial of long-term disability
benefits. The district judge dismissed all three causes of action, concluding that the
attempted recoveries were preempted by the provisions of the Employment Retirement
07-1730
Lerner v. Electronic Data Systems Corp.
- 2 -
Income Security Act (ERISA), 29 U.S.C. §§ 1001-1461. We agree and, therefore, we
affirm the judgment of the district court.
FACTUAL AND PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND
Because this matter was dismissed by the district judge pursuant to Rule 12(b)(6)
of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure for failure to state a claim upon which relief could
be granted, we accept as true all factual allegations stated in the plaintiff’s complaint. See
Gunasekera v. Irwin, 551 F.3d 461, 466 (6th Cir. 2009). Those allegations were
summarized by the district court in its opinion in this case, as follows:
Plaintiff was hired by Structural Dynamics Research Corp. (“SDRC”) in
September 1997, and participated in the company’s long term disability
insurance plan. Four years later, SDRC was acquired by Defendant EDS,
and Defendant Continental Casualty Company (Continental)