Johnny E. Walker v. Southern Company Services

BIRCH, Circuit Judge:

In this case, we decide whether the Supreme Court’s decision in UNUM Life Ins. Co. of America v. Ward, 526 U.S. 358, 119 S.Ct. 1380, 143 L.Ed.2d 462 (1999) alters the application of the savings clause of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (“ERISA”), 29 U.S.C. § 1144(b)(2)(A), such that the tort of bad faith under Alabama law is now saved from preemption. At the district court, the plaintiff Walker sought to amend his complaint to add the state law tort claim. After the district court granted leave to amend, the defendant Provident Life Insurance Company…