United States Fourth Circuit

Summary judgment for plaintiffs, declaring that ERISA preempts Maryland's Fair Share Health Care Fund Act, which requires employers with 10,000 or more Maryland employees to spend at least 8% of their total payrolls on employees' health insurance costs or pay the amount their spending falls short to the State, is affirmed as the Act effectively requires covered employers to restructure their employee health plans.

Appellate Information

• Argued 11/30/2006
• Decided 01/17/2007
• Published 01/17/2007

Judges

• Before NIEMEYER, MICHAEL, and TRAXLER, Circuit Judges.

Court

• United States Fourth Circuit

Counsel

• For Appellant:
  
• ARGUED:  Steven Marshall Sullivan, Assistant Attorney General, Office of the Attorney General of Maryland, Baltimore, Maryland, for James D. Fielder, Jr., in his official capacity as Maryland Secretary of Labor, Licensing, and Regulation.  William Jeffrey Kilberg, Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher, L.L.P., Washington, D.C., for Retail Industry Leaders Association.   Timothy David Hauser, Associate Solicitor, United States Department of Labor, Office of the Solicitor, Washington, D.C., for Amici Supporting Retail Industry Leaders Association.   ON BRIEF:  J. Joseph Curran, Jr., Attorney General of Maryland, Margaret Ann Nolan, Assistant Attorney General, Gary W. Kuc, Assistant Attorney General, Carl N. Zacarias, Staff Attorney, Office of the Attorney General of Maryland, Baltimore, Maryland;  Robert A. Zarnoch, Assistant Attorney General, Kathryn M. Rowe, Office of the Attorney General of Maryland, Annapolis, Maryland, for James D. Fielder, Jr., in his official capacity as Maryland Secretary of Labor, Licensing, and Regulation.  W. Stephen Cannon, Todd Anderson, Constantine Cannon, P.C., Washington, D.C.;  Eugene Scalia, Paul Blankenstein, William M. Jay, Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher, L.L.P., Washington, D.C., for Retail Industry Leaders Association.  Mary Ellen Signorille, Jay E. Sushelsky, AARP Foundation; Melvin Radowitz, AARP, Washington, D.C., for American Association of Retired Persons, Amicus Supporting James D. Fielder, Jr., in his official capacity as Maryland Secretary of Labor, Licensing, and Regulation.  Steven D. Schwinn, Professor, University of Maryland School of Law, Baltimore, Maryland, for Medicaid Matters!Maryland, Amicus Supporting James D. Fielder, Jr., in his official capacity as Maryland Secretary of Labor, Licensing, and Regulation.  Suzanne Sangree, Public Justice Center, Baltimore, Maryland;  Michael A. Pretl, Salisbury, Maryland, for Maryland Citizens' Health Initiative Education Fund, Incorporated, Amicus Supporting James D. Fielder, Jr., in his official capacity as Maryland Secretary of Labor, Licensing, and Regulation.  Karen R. Harned, Elizabeth A. Gaudio, NFIB Legal Foundation, Washington, D.C.;  Leslie Robert Stellman, Hodes, Ulman, Pessin & Katz, P.A., Towson, Maryland, for National Federation of Independent Business Legal Foundation, Amicus Supporting Retail Industry Leaders Association.  Richard L. Hackman, Smith & Downey, P.A., Baltimore, Maryland, for Maryland Chamber of Commerce, Amicus Supporting Retail Industry Leaders Association.  Howard M. Radzely, Solicitor of Labor, Karen L. Handorf, Counsel for Appellate and Special Litigation, James Craig, Senior Attorney, United States Department of Labor, Office of the Solicitor, Plan Benefits Security Division, Washington, D.C., for Secretary of Labor, Amicus Supporting Retail Industry Leaders Association.  James P. Baker, Heather Reinschmidt, Jones Day, San Francisco, California;  Willis J. Goldsmith, Jones Day, New York, New York, for Chamber of Commerce of the United States of America, Amicus Supporting Retail Industry Leaders Association.  Thomas M. Cristina, Ogletree, Deakins, Nash, Smoak & Stewart, P.C., Greenville, South Carolina, for The Society for Human Resource Management, The HR Policy Association, and American Benefits Council, Amici Supporting Retail Industry Leaders Association.