Title:

James LaRue v. DeWolff, Boberg & Associates, Inc., et al.

Subject:

Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA), Fiduciary Breaches, Defined Contribution Plans, Labor & Employment Law

Question:

Section 502(a)(2) of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 ("ERISA"), 29 U.S.C. 1132(a)(2), provides that a "civil action may be brought * * * by a participant * * * for appropriate relief under section 1109 of this title." 29 U.S.C. 1109 states that "a fiduciary with respect to a plan who breaches any * * * duties imposed upon fiduciaries * * * shall be personally liable to make good to such plan any losses to the plan resulting from each such breach."

• The First Question Presented is: Does Section 502(a)(2) of ERISA permit a participant to bring an action to recover losses attributable to his account in a "defined contribution plan" that were caused by fiduciary breach?

Section 502(a)(3) of ERISA, 29 U.S.C. 1132(a)(3), provides that a "civil action may be brought * * * by a participant * * * to obtain other appropriate equitable relief * * * to redress * * * violations" of the statute.

• The Second Question Presented is: Does Section 502(a)(3) permit a participant to bring an action for monetary "make-whole" relief to compensate for losses directly caused by fiduciary breach (known in premerger courts of equity as "surcharge")?

Decisions:

• U.S. Court of Appeals - 4th Circuit Opinion Filed: June 19, 2006
• United States Supreme Court, Cert. Granted: June 18, 2007

Resources:

• Docket Sheet From the U.S. Supreme Court.
• Northwestern University - Medill School of Journalism: On the Docket