ERISA Advisory - Supreme Court's Newest ERISA Decision
Mondaq Business Briefing › United States Law Articles in English (2011)
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ERISA Advisory - Supreme Court's Newest ERISA Decision
Supreme Court's newest ERISA decision. The Supreme Court's recent decision in CIGNA Corporation v. Amara, 563 U.S. ____ (5/16/11), may revolutionize the way that employee benefit plans are drafted and the ability of plan participants to overturn provisions that they object to; or it may turn out to be the articulation of theories that have no practical impact. On the broadest interpretation, it gives courts wide-ranging authority to "reform" plan documents to conform to the expectations fostered by an employer's statements about the plan's merits. On the narrowest, it rejects one possible basis for reformation and proffers obiter dicta that might serve as an alternative, but very difficult, way to reach the same result.
The case arose out of CIGNA's conversion of its traditional defined benefit pension plan into a cash balance plan, far from a unique event. The lawsuit brought by a group of plan participants who objected to the conversion was likewise far from unique. A number of legal actions questioned th...See the full content of this document
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