Trial court order remanding to plan administrator not immediately appealable
In Miller vs. Monumental Life Ins. Co. the trial court ordered (after remand from a prior appeal) that the ERISA based case be sent back to the plan administrator so the record could be completed. The plaintiff, Miller, appealed from this order, claiming it was improper on various grounds. The Tenth Circuit ruled that it was an interlocutory order over which it had no jurisdiction to determine.
Aside from a few well-settled exceptions, federal appellate courts have jurisdiction solely over appeals from final decisions of the district courts of the United States. A final decision is one that ends the litigation on the merits and leaves nothing for the court to do but execute the judgment. The order remanding the case to the plan administrator was not a final decision.
The court considers whether ERISA remand orders are reviewable on a case by case basis, and considers “practical finality.” Neither the cost or delay associated with additional review of the “sole cause” defense, nor Miller’s unfounded fear about loss of his argument that Monumental was not entitled to raise this defense, justifies treatment of the remand order as a final order for purposes of review. Miller’s contentions are not “effectively unreviewable.” The appeal was dismissed for lack of jurisdiction.
