Anastos v. Ikea Prop., Inc.

634 F.Supp.3d 1305

James ANASTOS, Plaintiff, v. IKEA PROPERTY, INC. and IKEA North America Services, LLC, Defendants.

Civil Action No. 1:19-cv-3702-SDG

United States District Court, N.D. Georgia, Atlanta Division

Signed September 30, 2022

John D. Wales, Law Offices of John D. Wales, Atlanta, GA, for Plaintiff.

John W.H. Harding, Pro Hac Vice, William G. Miossi, Pro Hac Vice, Winston & Strawn, LLP, Washington, DC, Benjamin I. Fink, Katherine Merriam Silverman, Berman Fink Van Horn P.C., Atlanta, GA, for Defendants.

OPINION AND ORDER

Steven D. Grimberg, United States District Court Judge

This matter is before the Court on Defendants IKEA Property, Inc. and IKEA North America Services, LLC's (together, IKEA) summary judgment motion [ECF 71] and motion for leave to file matters under seal [ECF 74], as well as Plaintiff James Anastos's motion to strike IKEA's notice of supplemental authority [ECF 92]. After careful consideration of the record, IKEA's summary judgment motion and motion to seal are GRANTED, and Anastos's motion to strike is DENIED.

I. BACKGROUND

This case arises under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974, 29 U.S.C. §§ 1001, et seq. (ERISA). The following facts are undisputed unless otherwise noted.

A. The Offer

In 2017, IKEA began a major reorganization.¹ As part of the reorganization IKEA gave a group of employees a choice: relocate to Philadelphia, or accept a "Voluntary Alternative Offer" (the Offer) and eventually separate from the company in exchange for a severance payment.² Anastos was affected by the reorganization, and, after twenty-five years with IKEA, opted not to relocate.³ Instead, he accepted the Offer, signed IKEA's requisite waiver and release including a "general release of claims" (the Release), and retired on May 3, 2018.⁴

B. The Plan

During his employment, but before he accepted the Offer and retired, Anastos participated in the IKEA Benefits Plan (the Plan) for basic life insurance, supplemental life insurance, and dependent life insurance.⁵ The Plan stated that "Basic Life Insurance is NOT Portability Eligible Insurance."⁶ The Plan also contained a section dedicated to conversion of policies when an employee's life insurance ended or was reduced.⁷ The Plan provided that the new policy could be "on any form then customarily offered by [IKEA] excluding term insurance."⁸ The Plan also contains a summary plan description that states that the "MetLife certificate describes the eligibility requirements for insurance provided by MetLife under the plan."⁹

C. The Policy

IKEA also offered the Retiree Recognition Policy (the Policy), which set the eligibility for IKEA retiree status and defined the "non-financial" benefits offered to retirees.¹⁰ It is undisputed that Anastos qualified for the Policy's benefits upon retirement.¹¹ The Policy's benefits were posted on IKEA's iCoworker platform. Chief among them, and central to this case, the Policy provided:

(1) "Within 7-10 days of retirement, retirees will receive information from the life insurance vendor regarding their option to continue their basic and/or supplemental life coverage for themselves and any eligible dependents";¹²

(2) "[m]ost of these options are guaranteed issue, which means, no medical certification will be required and the costs are similar to what was paid while employed with IKEA."¹³

D. Anastos's Inquiry Regarding Policy Benefits

Anastos believed the Policy meant that, once retired, he could buy his basic and supplemental life insurance benefits at IKEA's group rates.¹⁴ Before he accepted the Offer and retired, Anastos contacted two IKEA employees to confirm his understanding of the post-retirement life insurance coverage options under the Policy.¹⁵

First, on August 18, 2017, Anastos emailed Eileen Scoggins, a contractor whom IKEA retained to help manage employee benefits.¹⁶ She advised Anastos that he could convert his basic life coverage to an individual policy, and that his supplemental life coverage would end upon retirement; that is, his insurance under the Plan was not portable.¹⁷ She also advised that Anastos would receive a package of information from MetLife after retirement regarding "a new Voluntary Retiree Life coverage," including coverage amounts and eligibility dates; that MetLife's "financial professionals" were now with MassMutual; and that, as he was planning for retirement, he could contact MassMutual directly at any time to obtain an estimated rate.¹⁸ Anastos pointed out that the information in the Policy appeared to conflict with Scoggins's account, but Scoggins indicated that her information was "from MetLife directly."¹⁹ Anastos "wrote [Scoggins] off," believing "she didn't know what she was talking about."²⁰

Second, on August 23, 2017, Anastos emailed his retired former colleague, Ella Hullfish.²¹ In his email, he recounted what Scoggins wrote and indicated his belief that the information was "opposite of what [was] stated on iCoworker."²² Hullfish cautioned, "[D]on't trust anyone," and advised him to reach out to MetLife directly.²³ Later, on August 29, Hullfish wrote, "It sounds like they changed life insurance companies. So, yes . . . call them."²⁴

There is no evidence that Anastos contacted MetLife or MassMutual before he accepted the Offer, or otherwise attempted to clarify whether Scoggins's explanation of his benefits under the Policy was accurate; Anastos "didn't believe it would be helpful."²⁵

E. Anastos's Retirement and Attempts to Collect Benefits Under the Policy

Anastos signed the Offer on October 5, 2017,²⁶ and retired on May 3, 2018.²⁷ He alleges that—before his retirement, but after he accepted the Offer—he twice met with Amy Vernon, IKEA's Human Resources Manager: once in April 2018, and once on May 3, 2018, his last day of employment.²⁸ He insists that, at both meetings, Vernon reviewed the Policy, confirmed Anastos's understanding that he could port his Plan insurance per the Policy, and "directly refuted the information . . . from Ms. Scoggins in 2017."²⁹ According to Anastos, Vernon "specifically confirmed [his] eligibility for continuation of [his] three Term Life Insurance policies, and assured [him] that Met[L]ife would send [him] a packet of information as outlined in the [Policy]."³⁰

After Anastos retired he received a letter from IKEA dated May 10, 2018, that allegedly confirmed his understanding of the Policy, and enclosed a retiree ID card, which listed the Policy's benefits and relevant contacts.³¹ However, he alleges that, in the 7-10 days following his retirement, he did not receive any correspondence from MetLife or MassMutual regarding his post-retirement insurance options.³² He further alleges that, on or about May 17, 2018, he and his spouse began to contact MetLife and IKEA's Benefits Department, and that his spouse called MetLife at least three times after May 17.³³

1. MetLife's Letter

Anastos's spouse continued a back-and-forth with IKEA personnel regarding Scoggins's explanation of benefits.³⁴ At some point, Debra Packel, Benefits Manager for IKEA, asked MetLife to look into and expedite Anastos's retirement package.³⁵ Amid this back-and-forth, Anastos received a letter from MetLife (the MetLife Letter) dated June 14, 2018, detailing his post-retirement life insurance options.³⁶ The MetLife Letter offered Anastos a conversion option of $437,000 in basic life insurance coverage without a medical examination, or a "Voluntary Retirement Life" (VRL) option.³⁷ There was no option to port his basic and supplemental insurance and continue buying either or both at IKEA's group rates; rather, the letter explained that if Anastos converted his group coverage, the group coverage would end, and he would start an individual life insurance policy.³⁸ The MetLife Letter advised that Anastos should respond by August 14, 2018 to take advantage of any benefits described in the letter.³⁹

On July 25, 2018, Anastos emailed Packel to discuss the MetLife letter. Over the next few days, Anastos and IKEA exchanged emails. Anastos insisted he was entitled to the same life insurance policies at the same rates, and IKEA explained that the "continuation options are to convert the policy to an individual policy or purchase a new VRL policy," consistent with the MetLife Letter and Scoggins's account.⁴⁰ IKEA maintains that Anastos did not respond to MetLife by August 14. Anastos disputes that allegation, and insists that he applied to convert his IKEA policies to an individual policy, which—contrary to IKEA's representations—required him to fill out a health questionnaire.⁴¹ Anastos received a rejection letter from MetLife on September 4.⁴²

2. The 2016 Policy Change

In an August 30, 2018 email, IKEA acknowledged internally that, "effective for 2016[,] M[et]L[ife] started to offer the VRL program in conjunction with removal of retirement as a port-eligible event," and recommended that IKEA communicate this change to employees to "ensure consistency with actual M[et]L[ife] coverage arrangements and policy terms."⁴³

On September 28, 2018, Packel explained to Anastos that "IKEA had offered portability of supplemental and dependent life insurance for retirees up until January 1, 2016," and that basic life insurance was never eligible to be ported.⁴⁴ She acknowledged that "the IKEA Retiree FAQ was not updated to reflect the [2016] change regarding portability and Voluntary Retiree Life for retirees."⁴⁵

3. MetLife's Amended Insurance Package

In the same September 28 communication Packel also informed Anastos that there was a "data error" whereby "MetLife only offered [Anastos] the option to convert [his] basic life insurance," and that MetLife was "reopening [his] conversion option enrollment period and [would] send out a new package on September 28, 2018 with a new 15-day timeline."⁴⁶ According to IKEA, under the new package (the Amended Insurance Package), Anastos would "have the option to convert up to the total amount of [his] basic, supplemental and spouse coverage," and that "[e...