Fifth Circuit Guide to Redemption and Removal Jurisdiction

The Fifth Circuit's 1999 term was action packed with significant employee benefit issues. The court abrogated Burks v. Amerada Hess Corp., limited Pierre v. Connecticut General Life Insurance Co., issued one en banc decision, suggested two other issues for en banc hearings, issued three per curiam decisions, addressed two cases of first impression, vacated two just-released opinions, and answered certified questions. Cases involved murder and mayhem, a drug overdose, an ex-NFL player's attempt to conceal income from his ex-wife, an employer who fired an employee because he took medical leave to recuperate from a heart attack, a plan's investment in derivative securities, a virulent but naive ex-wife, and a depressed participant who had been treated in an experimental drug program. More significantly, many cases involved preemption, removal, and remand, which allowed the court to clarify and explain the difference between complete preemption and conflict preemption and its effect on removal and supplemental jurisdiction.