FULGHUM v. EMBARQ CORP.

No. 13-3230.

778 F.3d 1147 (2015)

William Douglas FULGHUM; Dorsey Daniel; John Douglas Hollingsworth; Willie Dorman; Robert E. King; Calvin Bruce Joyner; Timothy Dillon; Sue Barnes; William Games; Betsy Bullock; Kenneth A. Carpenter; Betty A. Carpenter; Carl W. Somdahl; Wanda W. Shipley; Laudie Colon McLaurin, individually and on behalf of all others similarly situated; James W. Britt, class representative (deceased); Carol Nelson, Administrator of the Estate of James W. Britt; Bessie M. Reveal, proposed substitute named plaintiff and class representative for James W. Britt; Donald Ray Clark, Plaintiffs-Appellants, v. EMBARQ CORPORATION; Embarq Retiree Medical Plan; Sprint Nextel Corporation; Embarq Mid-Atlantic Management Services Company, formerly known as Sprint Mid-Atlantic Telecom, Inc.; Sprint Retiree Medical Plan; Group Health Plan for Certain Retirees And Employees of Sprint Corporation; Sprint Welfare Benefit Plan for Retirees and Non-Flexcare Participants; Sprint Group Life and Longterm Disability Plans; Carolina Telephone and Telegraph Company, LLC, Formerly Known as Carolina Telephone and Telegraph Company; Group Life Accidental Death and Dismemberment and Dependent Life Plan for Employees of Carolina Telephone and Telegraph Company; Carolina Telephone and Telegraph Company Voluntary Employees' Beneficiary Association Sickness Death Benefit Plan; Randall T. Parker, as Plan Administrator for all of the Employee Welfare Benefit Plans of Embarq Corporation and Carolina Telephone and Telegraph Company, LLC; Employee Benefits Committee of Embarq Corporation as Plan Administrator of the Embarq Retiree Medical Plan, Defendants-Appellees. Thomas E. Perez, Secretary, United States Department of Labor; Secretary of Labor, Amicus Curiae.

United States Court of Appeals, Tenth Circuit.

February 24, 2015.


Attorney(s) appearing for the Case

Alan M. Sandals , Sandals & Associates, P.C., Philadelphia, PA, and Richard T. Seymour , Law Office of Richard T. Seymour, PLLC, Washington, DC ( Scott M. Lempert , Sandals & Associates, P.C., Philadelphia, PA; Stewart W. Fisher , Glenn, Mills, Fisher & Mahoney, P.A., Durham, NC; Mary C. O'Connell , Douthit Frets Rouse Gentile & Rhodes, LLC, Kansas City, MO; and Diane A. Nygaard , Kenner Nygaard Demarea Kendall, LLC, Kansas City, MO, with them on the briefs), for Plaintiffs-Appellants.

Christopher J. Koenigs , Sherman & Howard L.L.C., Denver, CO ( Joseph J. Costello , Morgan, Lewis & Bockius LLP, Philadelphia, PA, and James P. Walsh, Jr. , Morgan, Lewis & Bockius LLP, Princeton, NJ, with him on the brief), for Defendants-Appellees.

Stephen A. Silverman , U.S. Department of Labor, Washington, DC ( M. Patricia Smith , Solicitor of Labor; G. William Scott , Acting Associate Solicitor, Plan Benefits Security Division; and Nathaniel I. Spiller , Counsel for Appellate and Special Litigation, U.S. Department of Labor, Washington, DC, with him on the brief), for Amicus Curiae.

Before LUCERO, MURPHY, and BACHARACH, Circuit Judges.


I. Introduction

Plaintiffs-appellants represent a class of retirees (collectively "Plaintiffs") formerly employed by Sprint-Nextel Corporation ("Sprint"), Embarq Corporation ("Embarq"), or a predecessor and/or subsidiary company of either Embarq or Sprint (collectively "Defendants"). Plaintiffs brought this suit...

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