Everate W. Dedeaux v. Pilot Life Insurance Co.

JERRE S. WILLIAMS, Circuit Judge:

The case before us raises the question of whether the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA), 29 U.S.C. §§ 1001-1381 (1982), preempts an employee’s common law breach of contract and tort claims against the insurance company that issued his employer’s group insurance policy. The district court concluded that ERISA preempted the employee’s claims. We reverse on the authority of Metropolitan Life Insurance Co. v. Massachusetts, — U.S. -, 105 S.Ct. 2380, 85 L.Ed.2d 728 (1985), decided after the decision of the District Court.

I

In March, 1975, Everate W.…