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Cite as:  590 U. S. ____ (2020) 

1 

Opinion of the Court 

NOTICE:  This opinion is subject to formal revision before publication in the 
preliminary  print  of  the  United  States  Reports.  Readers  are  requested  to 
notify the Reporter of Decisions, Supreme Court of the United States, Wash-
ington, D. C. 20543, of any typographical or other formal errors, in order that 
corrections may be made before the preliminary print goes to press. 

SUPREME COURT OF THE UNITED STATES 

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No. 17–1712 
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JAMES J. THOLE, ET AL., PETITIONERS v. 
U. S. BANK N. A., ET AL. 

ON WRIT OF CERTIORARI TO THE UNITED STATES COURT OF 
APPEALS FOR THE EIGHTH CIRCUIT 

[June 1, 2020]

 JUSTICE KAVANAUGH delivered the opinion of the Court. 
To  establish  standing  under  Article  III  of  the  Constitu-
tion, a plaintiff must demonstrate (1) that he or she suffered 
an injury in fact that is concrete, particularized, and actual 
or imminent, (2) that the injury was caused by the defend-
ant, and (3) that the injury would likely be redressed by the 
requested judicial relief.  See Lujan v. Defenders of Wildlife, 
504 U. S. 555, 560–561 (1992). 

Plaintiffs James Thole and Sherry Smith are two retired 
participants  in  U. S.  Bank’s  retirement  plan.  Of  decisive 
importance to this case, the plaintiffs’ retirement plan is a 
defined-benefit plan, not a defined-contribution plan.  In a 
defined-benefit plan, retirees receive a fixed payment each
month, and the payments do not fluctuate with the value of
the plan or because of the plan fiduciaries’ good or bad in-
vestment decisions.  By contrast, in a defined-contribution 
plan, such as a 401(k) plan, the retirees’ benefits are typi-
cally tied to the value of their accounts, and the benefits can 
turn  on  the  plan  fiduciaries’  particular  investment  deci-
sions.   See  Beck  v.  PACE  Int’l  Union,  551  U. S.  96,  98 
(2007); Hughes Aircraft Co. v. Jacobson, 525 U. S. 432, 439–