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Deborah Schorsch v. Reliance Standard Life Insurance Co., An Illinois Corporation

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ARGUED SEPTEMBER 8, 2011

Before MANION, ROVNER, and TINDER, Circuit Judges.

The Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA) allows beneficiaries of plans governed by the statute to bring civil actions to recover benefits that are due to them. 29 U.S.C. § 1132(a)(1)(B). But in enacting ERISA, Congress also mandated internal claim review procedures. 29 U.S.C. § 1133(2). Recognizing that Congress gave the primary responsibility for processing claims to ERISA plans as opposed to federal courts, we have held that district courts have discretion to require the exhaustion of ad- ministrative remedies as a precondition to such suits. See Powell v. A.T. & T. Commc’ns, Inc., 938 F.2d 823, 826 (7th Cir. 1991). Yet there are exceptions that may excuse a failure to exhaust. We consider here whether the content of a termination notice, specifically the absence of particular information, caused the beneficiary’s failure to exhaust and whether the defendant is estopped from taking advantage of that failure. The district court found that the beneficiary offered no evidence of rea- sonable reliance on the absent information and that even if the notice was deficient, the alleged deficiencies were not material. Finding no abuse of discretion, we affirm.

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