Donovan v. Dillingham

How courts have described this case

Verbatim parenthetical descriptions written by other courts when citing this decision. Ranked by citation-network relevance.

• holding that a plan exists, whether “pursuant to a writing or not,” where “a 4 reasonable person could ascertain the intended benefits, beneficiaries, source of financing, and 5 || procedures for receiving benefits”
• explaining that an ERISA plan “is established if from the surrounding circumstances a reasonable person can ascertain the intended benefits, a class of beneficiaries, the source of financing, and procedures for receiving benefits”
• noting that “ERISA does not ... require a formal written plan”
• “The gist of ERISA’s definitions ... is that a plan, fund, or program falls within the ambit of ERISA only if the plan, fund, or program covers ERISA participants because of their employee status in an employment relationship-”
• “a ‘plan, fund, or program’ under ERISA is established if from the surrounding circumstances a reasonable person can ascertain the intended benefits, a class of beneficiaries, the source of financing, and procedures for receiving benefits.”
• In determining whether a plan, fund or program (pursuant to a writing or not) is a reality a court must determine whether from the surrounding circumstances a reasonable person could ascertain the intended benefits, beneficiaries, source of financing, and procedures for receiving benefits

Source: CourtListener parenthetical corpus (CC0).

Cited by

103 cases in this archive cite this case; the 20 most cited are listed.

• Fort Halifax Packing Co. v. Coyne
  Supreme Court· 1987-06-01· cited 1,315×
• James P. Cotton, Jr. v. Massachusetts Mutual Life
  Eleventh Circuit· 2005-03-16· cited 261×
• Scott v. Gulf Oil Corp.
  Ninth Circuit· 1985-03-06· cited 261×
• Guilbert v. Gardner
  Second Circuit· 2007-03-07· cited 189×
• Butero v. Royal Maccabees Life Ins.
  Eleventh Circuit· 1999-05-10· cited 122×
• Watkins v. Westinghouse Hanford Co.
  Ninth Circuit· 1993-12-29· cited 90×
• Alexander Menkes v. Prudential Insurance Co of Ame
  Third Circuit· 2014-08-06· cited 74×
• Kanne v. Connecticut General Life Insurance
  Ninth Circuit· 1988-10-04· cited 50×
• Ross Glenn Moorman, Jr. v. UnumProvident
  Eleventh Circuit· 2006-09-18· cited 46×
• Silvera v. Mutual Life Ins. Co. of New York
  Ninth Circuit· 1989-08-29· cited 43×
• Modzelewski v. Resolution Trust Corp.
  Ninth Circuit· 1994-01-20· cited 42×
• Dan Wilson v. Safelite Group, Inc.
  Sixth Circuit· 2019-07-10· cited 39×
• Donya Leigh Anderson v Unum Provident Corp.
  Eleventh Circuit· 2004-05-13· cited 37×
• Marshall v. Bankers Life & Casualty Co.
  California Supreme Court· 1992-07-09· cited 36×
• Sipma v. Massachusetts Casualty Insurance
  Tenth Circuit· 2001-07-17· cited 33×
• Robert Stern v. International Business Machines (IBM), a New York Corporation
  Eleventh Circuit· 2003-04-14· cited 31×
• Searles v. First Fortis Life Insurance
  S.D. New York· 2000-05-24· cited 30×
• Frances Alday v. Raytheon Company
  Ninth Circuit· 2012-05-21· cited 23×
• Butero v. Royal MacCabees Life Insurance
  Eleventh Circuit· 1999-05-10· cited 21×
• Cinelli v. Security Pacific Corp.
  Ninth Circuit· 1995-08-07· cited 21×

Cites

12 cases in this archive are cited by this case.

• Larry Bonner v. City of Prichard, Alabama
  Eleventh Circuit· 1981-11-03· cited 11,375×
• Murray Stein v. Reynolds Securities, Inc.
  Eleventh Circuit· 1982-06-28· cited 1,401×
• Donovan v. Dillingham
  Eleventh Circuit· 1982-10-15· cited 442×
• Wayne Chemical, Inc., Robert C. Tribolet and Thomas C. Tribolet v. Columbus Agency Service Corporation
  Seventh Circuit· 1977-11-08· cited 106×
• The Taggart Corporation v. Life and Health Benefits Administration, Inc.
  Fifth Circuit· 1980-05-30· cited 99×
• Eversole v. Metropolitan Life Ins. Co., Inc.
  C.D. California· 1980-09-15· cited 61×
• Bell v. Employee Security Benefit Ass'n
  D. Kansas· 1977-08-22· cited 53×
• Dependahl v. Falstaff Brewing Corp.
  E.D. Missouri· 1980-06-09· cited 49×
• Hamberlin v. VIP Insurance Trust
  D. Arizona· 1977-08-05· cited 23×
• Donovan v. Dillingham
  Eleventh Circuit· 1982-02-22· cited 22×
• Taggert Corp. v. Efros
  S.D. Texas· 1979-08-21· cited 17×
• Taggart Corp. v. Efros
  Supreme Court· 1981-03-30· cited 14×