Lv. DeWOLFF, BOBERG & ASSOCIATES, INC. (No. 06-856)
450 F. 3d 570, vacated and remanded.
Syllabus

Opinion
[Stevens]
Concurrence
[Roberts]
Concurrence
[Thomas]
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Syllabus

NOTE: Where it is feasible, a syllabus (headnote) will be released, as is being done in connection with this case, at the time the opinion is issued.The syllabus constitutes no part of the opinion of the Court but has been prepared by the Reporter of Decisions for the convenience of the reader.See United States v. Detroit Timber & Lumber Co., 200 U. S. 321 .

SUPREME COURT OF THE UNITED STATES

LaRUE v. DeWOLFF, BOBERG & ASSOCIATES, INC., et al.

certiorari to the united states court of appeals for the fourth circuit


No. 06–856. Argued November 26, 2007—Decided February 20, 2008

Petitioner, a participant in a defined contribution pension plan, alleged that the plan administrator’s failure to follow petitioner’s investment directions “depleted” his interest in the plan by approximately $150,000 and amounted to a breach of fiduciary duty under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA). The District Court granted respondents judgment on the pleadings, and the Fourth Circuit affirmed. Relying on Massachusetts Mutual Life Ins. Co. v. Russell, 473 U. S. 134 , the Circuit held that ERISA §502(a)(2) provides remedies only for entire plans, not for individuals.

Held: Although §502(a)(2) does not provide a remedy for individual injuries distinct from plan injuries, it does authorize recovery for fiduciary breaches that impair the value of plan assets in a participant’s individual account. Section 502(a)(2) provides for suits to enforce the liability-creating provisions of §409, concerning breaches of fiduciary duties that harm plans. The principal statutory duties imposed by §409 relate to the proper management, administration, and investment of plan assets, with an eye toward ensuring that the benefits authorized by the plan are ultimately paid to plan participants. The misconduct that petitioner alleges falls squarely within that category, unlike the misconduct in Russell. There, the plaintiff received all of the benefits to which she was contractually entitled, but sought consequential damages arising from a delay in the processing of her claim. Russell’s emphasis on protecting the “entire plan” reflects the fact that the disability plan in Russell, as well as the typical pension plan at that time, promised participants a fixed benefit. Misconduct by such a plan’s administrators will not affect an individual’s entitlement to a defined benefit unless it creates or enhances the risk of default by the entire plan. For defined contribution plans, however, fiduciary misconduct need not threaten the entire plan’s solvency to reduce benefits below the amount that participants would otherwise receive. Whether a fiduciary breach diminishes plan assets payable to all participants or only to particular individuals, it creates the kind of harms that concerned §409’s draftsmen. Thus, Russell’s “entire plan” references, which accurately reflect §409’s operation in the defined benefit context, are beside the point in the defined contribution context. Pp. 4–8.

450 F. 3d 570, vacated and remanded.

Stevens, J., delivered the opinion of the Court, in which Souter, Ginsburg, Breyer, and Alito, JJ., joined. Roberts, C. J., filed an opinion concurring in part and concurring in the judgment, in which Kennedy, J., joined. Thomas, J., filed an opinion concurring in the judgment, in which Scalia, J., joined.