Moore v. American Federation Of Television and Radio Artists, 216 F.3d 1236 (11th Cir. 2000)

Moore v. American Federation Of Television and Radio Artists, 216 F.3d 1236 (11^th Cir. 2000)-The court addressed the question of whether plan beneficiaries have standing to sue derivatively on behalf of a plan against employers for unpaid fund contributions—particularly where the beneficiaries allege that the plan trustees have breached their fiduciary duties by refusing to sue the employers. This court held that they do not. It pointed out that both the logic and the legislative history of 29 U.S.C. § 1132 make it clear that only fiduciaries should have standing to sue on behalf of a plan for delinquent contributions.

Here, a group of recording artists alleged that that their employers, a group of eight record companies, failed to contribute sufficient amounts to their benefit funds and that the trustees of the Fund breached their fiduciary duties by failing to sue to collect the correct amounts. The companies were obligated to pay eleven percent of an artist's "gross compensation" into the Fund; however, it was unclear, because of changes in common practices, whether gross compensation included expenses fronted by the company to the singer.

This court found that the plan beneficiaries did not have standing to sue—since ERISA allows only for plan fiduciaries to sue for unpaid contributions. The passage of ERISA "did not change the common law rule that fiduciaries of a plan have a breath of discretion in deciding when, and if, to bring an action to enforce the plan's rights." This court also affirmed the district court's denial of class certification (based on lack of "typicality of claims").

The court concluded by pointing out that the beneficiaries are not left without a remedy. Under 29 U.S.C. § 1109 (a), trustees can be held "personally liable" to the plan for losses due to a breach of fiduciary duty. If the fiduciary is judgment proof or continues to refuse to sue to collect delinquent contributions, the court can order "such ... equitable or remedial relief ... including removal ... of such fiduciary," 29 U.S.C. § 1109 (a).