[489 412 -574 (1982) (common law of trusts did not alter nondiscretionary obligation of trustees to enforce eligibility requirements as required by LMRA trust agreement). 193-208 (2d rev. With respect to Count I, the District Court held that Firestone had satisfied its fiduciary duty under ERISA because its decision not to pay severance benefits to respondents under the termination, pay plan was not arbitrary or capricious. Firefox, or be subject to judicial review, the assumption seems to be that a de novo standard would encourage more litigation by employees, participants, and beneficiaries who wish to assert their right to benefits. Hence, over a century ago we remarked that, "[w]hen trustees are in existence, and capable of acting, a court of equity will not interfere to control them in the exercise of a discretion vested in them by the instrument under which they act. The Court of Appeals reversed and remanded, holding that benefits denials should be subject to de novo judicial review, rather than review under the arbitrary and capricious standard, where the employer is itself the administrator and fiduciary of an unfunded plan, since deference is unwarranted in that situation, given the lack of assurance of impartiality on the employer's part. . Pp. 1002(7) ("participant"), 1002(8) ("beneficiary"), 1002(21)(A) ("fiduciary"), 1103(a) ("trustee"), 1104 ("fiduciary duties"). IV). Without this jurisdictional analogy, LMRA principles offer no support for the adoption of the arbitrary and capricious standard insofar as 1132(a)(1)(B) is concerned. Adopting Firestone's 87-1054. , n. 12 (1983). Ante, at 117. §§ 1101-1114, "codif[y] and mak[e] applicable to [ERISA] fiduciaries certain principles developed in the evolution of the law of trusts." Hence, over a century ago we remarked that "[w]hen trustees are in existence, and capable of acting, a court of equity will not interfere to control them in the exercise of a discretion vested in them by the instrument under which they act." With respect to Count I, the Court of Appeals acknowledged that most federal courts have reviewed the denial of benefits by ERISA fiduciaries and administrators under the arbitrary and capricious standard. Without more, we cannot ascribe to Congress any acquiescence in the arbitrary and capricious standard. Since, however, no employer Finding that it would be illogical to say that a person could only bring a claim for benefits if he or she was entitled to benefits, the Court of. [489 . (1983), and "to protect contractually defined benefits," Massachusetts Mutual Life Ins. With respect to Count VII, the Court of Appeals held that the right to request and receive information about an employee benefit plan, "most sensibly extend[s] both to people who are in fact entitled to a benefit under the plan and to those who claim to be, but in fact are not.". To fill this gap, federal courts have adopted the arbitrary and capricious standard developed under 61 Stat. 1002(7). Complaint 23-44, App. Respondents unsuccessfully sought plan information from Firestone pursuant to 29 U.S.C.  Under ERISA. standards, and since the views of a subsequent Congress form a hazardous basis for inferring the intent of an earlier one. Â. In Firestone Tire & Rubber Co. v. Bruch, 489 U. S. 101, this Court addressed “the appropriate standard of judicial review of benefit determinations by fiduciaries or plan administrators under” §1132(a)(1)(B), the ERISA provision at issue here. Nevertheless, Firestone maintains that congressional action after the passage of ERISA indicates that Congress intended ERISA claims to be reviewed under the arbitrary and capricious standard. BRUCH v. FIRESTONE TIRE AND RUBBER CO. OPINION OF THE COURT. See also G. Bogert & G. Bogert, Law of Trusts and Trustees § 560, pp.193-208 (2d. We do not think that this bit of legislative inaction carries the day for Firestone. By operation of law, Firestone itself was the administrator, 29 U.S.C. USA. 186(c), a provision of the Labor Management Relations Act, 1947 (LMRA). Nevertheless, Firestone maintains that congressional action after the passage of ERISA indicates that Congress intended ERISA claims to be reviewed under the arbitrary and capricious standard. [489 93-533, p. 11 (1973) -- will be thwarted by a natural reading of the term "participant." CERTIORARI TO THE UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE THIRD CIRCUIT Syllabus Restatement (Second) of Trusts § 187, Comment d (1959), Respondents unsuccessfully sought plan information from Firestone pursuant to 29 U.S.C. Respondents' action asserting that they were entitled to benefits because the sale of Firestone's Plastics Division constituted a "reduction in work force" within the meaning of the termination pay plan was based on the authority of 1132(a) (1)(B). 1002(8). Justice O’Connor, For the Court. First, we address the appropriate standard of judicial review of benefit determinations by fiduciaries or plan administrators under ERISA. See also Comment, The Arbitrary and Capricious Standard Under ERISA: Its Origins and Application, 23 Duquesne L.Rev. . Pp. U.S. 359, 361 The dispute in this case therefore centers on the definition of the term "participant," which is found in § 1002(7): "The term 'participant' means any employee or former employee of an employer, or any member or former member of an employee organization, who is or may become eligible to receive a benefit of any type from an employee benefit plan which covers employees of such employer or members of such organization, or whose beneficiaries may be eligible to receive any such benefit. Though "instructive," failure to act on the proposed bill is not conclusive of Congress' views on the appropriate standard of review. The discussion which follows is limited to the appropriate standard of review in § 1132(a)(1)(B) actions challenging denials of benefits based on plan interpretations. 98-104.  ", The Court of Appeals noted that § 1132(a)(1) allows suits for benefits "by a participant or beneficiary." See, e.g., 29 U.S.C. See also Franchise Tax Board v. Construction Laborers Vacation Trust, Argued Nov. 30, 1988. Syllabus. See Note, Judicial Review of Fiduciary Claim Denials Under ERISA: An Alternative to the Arbitrary and Capricious Test, 71 Cornell L.Rev. will be fulfilled in the future. Those reasons have nothing to do with the concern for impartiality that guided the Court of Appeals, and the de novo standard applies regardless of whether the plan at issue is funded or unfunded and whether the administrator or fiduciary is operating under a conflict of interest. Id. See §§ 1024(b)(4), 1025(a). 104-106. 157, 29 U.S.C. costs of producing the information under § 1024(b)(4) and Department of Labor regulations. ", 3 W. Fratcher, Scott on Trusts § 201, at 221 (emphasis added). It reasoned that, in such situations, deference is unwarranted, given the lack of assurance of impartiality on, the part of the employer. Firestone set forth four principles of … Although it is a "comprehensive and reticulated statute," Nachman Corp. v. Pension Benefit Guaranty Corp., 446. Bogert & Bogert supra, § 559, at 162-168; Restatement (Second) of Trusts § 201, Comment b (1959). The District Court granted Firestone's motion for summary judgment. venience of the reader. U.S. 716, 724 To fill this gap, federal courts have adopted the arbitrary and capricious standard developed under 61 Stat. A fiduciary has "authority to control and manage the operation and administration of the plan," 1102(a)(1), and must provide a "full and fair review" of claim denials, 1133(2). 2 Black & Decker Disability Plan v. Nord, 538 U.S. 822, 830 (2003) (quoting Firestone Tire & Rubber Co. v. Bruch, 489 U.S. 101, 113 (1989)).To that end, ERISA allows suits to recover benefits due under a plan, to enforce rights under the terms of a plan, ERISA abounds with the language and terminology of trust law. 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