Sam C. Gonzales v. The Prudential Insurance Co. Of America

KING, Circuit Judge:

Plaintiff-appellant filed suit against defendants-appellees in state district court, asserting that he was entitled under state law to recover disability payments that he alleged defendants had wrongfully withheld from him and to collect certain penalties for defendants’ allegedly wrongful conduct. After defendants removed the case, the federal district court conducted a trial on stipulated facts. The district court found in favor of defendants on the grounds that plaintiff’s state law claims were preempted by ERISA and that defendants’ decision to terminate benefits to…