Kennedy v. Deere & Co.

This action was initiated in 1983 and is before us on its second tour of appellate review. Plaintiff chiropractors sued defendant Deere & Co. to recover health insurance benefits assigned to them by their patients, employees of the defendant manufacturer. Defendant is the plan administrator of its employees’ health benefit plan, which plan is subject to the Federal Employee Retirement Income and Security Act (ERISA) (29 U.S.C. 1001 et seq. (1982)). In the first appeal we held that plaintiffs, as assignees of their patients, had standing to claim benefits pursuant to sections 1132(a)(1)(B) and…