Ex Parte Metropolitan Life Ins. Co.

The only issue presented by this petition for the writ of mandamus is whether the plaintiff is entitled to a jury trial in his action against the administrator of an ERISA-regulated employee health care benefit plan.

W.R. Edgeworth, a retired employee of LTV Steel Company, is a member of the LTV Health Care Plan ("the Plan"), a self-funded employee welfare benefit plan governed by the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA) (29 U.S.C. § 1001 et seq.). MetLife is the administrator of the Plan and has discretionary authority to determine eligibility for benefits claimed under the…