Richard P. Sullivan v. Coventry Municipal Employees' Retirement Plan

Excerpt

This matter arises from a claim by plaintiff, Richard P. Sullivan, that he was entitled to pension benefits based on his tenure in various positions with the Town of Coventry. The plaintiff appealed a Kent County Superior Court judgment granting the defendants' motion to dismiss for lack of subject-matter jurisdiction and the grant of defendants' alternative motion for summary judgment. On appeal, plaintiff asserted that the Superior Court erred in determining that it lacked subject-matter jurisdiction to review his claims and further argued that the hearing justice erred in reviewing and affirming the plan administrator's decision that denied plaintiff pension benefits. The Supreme Court affirmed the hearing justice's grant of defendants' motion to dismiss for lack of subject-matter jurisdiction and thus did not reach the Superior Court's alternative grant of summary judgment. The Supreme Court reinstated plaintiff's prior petition for writ of certiorari, which the Court had previously denied, without prejudice, and consolidated it with the present appeal. The Court reviewed the plan administrator's decision denying plaintiff pension benefits and concluded that the decision was not arbitrary and capricious. Accordingly, the Court affirmed the judgment of the Superior Court regarding its lack of subject-matter jurisdiction, and affirmed the decision of the plan administrator denying plaintiff pension benefits.