Feb 20, 2008

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BREAKING: LaRue Bats 1000 (Or 9, As the Case May Be)

In a much-awaited decision just released, all 9 Supreme Court Justices have agreed that plan beneficiaries (regular joes like you and me) are able to file suit under ERISA to recover money we would have had if the administrators had followed our instructions.

Prior to the LaRue holding, most courts agreed that ERISA limited suits to recover plan losses had to be brought by the plan, for the plan as a whole. LaRue opens the door for regular people to sue for losses to their individual account, reasoning that their account balance is part of the plan balance.

The decision did a fine job of weaving around the most dicey parts of the case beneath – whether “make whole” remedies (i.e. money) are “equitible” enough to be recoverable under ERISA.

More to come.

On the web:
ScotusWiki on LaRue
Workplace Prof Blog Analysis