Opinion ID: 496793
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: ERISA Title I

Text: 7 Appellants begin with the premise that administrators of pension plans under ERISA are bound by a fiduciary duty to the beneficiaries in the administration of such plans. Appellants contend that the Retirement Board breached this duty by adopting and implementing SHARP for the benefit of Scott and not for the benefit of all SERP participants and beneficiaries. 8 Appellees' retort that the decision to offer SHARP to a limited number of Scott employees was a design decision rather than an administration decision. Appellants point to no ERISA provision that requires an employer to provide identical benefits to employees when the employer designs a plan. Appellees contend that the administrators of a pension plan have a fiduciary duty to the plan's participants only with regard to administration decisions and are bound by no such duty with regard to design decisions. Accepting appellees' reasoning, the district court held that the Retirement Board had no fiduciary duty with respect to the adoption and implementation of SHARP. 9 If SHARP had been a part of SERP when SERP was implemented, SHARP would clearly be part of the design of the plan. Appellants ground their argument that they have been treated unequally, in violation of a fiduciary duty owed them, on the fact that SHARP was implemented as an amendment to SERP. Specifically, they contend that the Retirement Board breached its fiduciary duty to them by amending SERP to give the SHARP benefit to some Scott employees and not to others. Appellants argue that amending a plan is an administration decision rather than a design decision. 10 ERISA provides that a person is a fiduciary with respect to a plan to the extent [that] he exercises any discretionary authority or discretionary control respecting management of such plan or exercises any authority or control respecting management or disposition of its assets. 29 U.S.C. Sec. 1002(21)(A) (1982). Thus, we must determine who had the authority to design and implement SHARP. We think it clear in this action that Scott, not the Retirement Board, had the sole authority to determine who would be eligible for SHARP. The design of the SHARP plan was purely a corporate management decision. It defies common sense to suggest that a corporation must allow a retirement board to make personnel decisions such as determining which plants need fewer employees. Therefore, we find that the Retirement Board had no authority to alter the terms of SHARP or to refuse to adopt SHARP. Accordingly, we agree with the district court that although the Retirement Board was the entity that formally amended SERP to adopt SHARP, the Retirement Board had no fiduciary duty with respect to the adoption of SHARP. 11 Similarly, we find no breach of fiduciary duty in the Retirement Board's implementation of SHARP. Appellants' attack on the implementation takes two tracks: 1) the implementation of SHARP improperly benefitted Scott and 2) the implementation of SHARP improperly benefitted only some SERP beneficiaries. The first contention is easily dismissed: although a fiduciary has a duty to act for the exclusive benefit of trust beneficiaries, ERISA Sec. 404(a)(1)(A), 29 U.S.C. Sec. 1104(a)(1)(A) (1982), the fact that a fiduciary's action incidentally benefits an employer does not necessarily mean that the fiduciary has breached his duty. Appellants suggest that Scott was using SERP participants' money--the SERP surplus--to fund SHARP for the benefit of Scott, i.e., to make Scott's operation more efficient. From this premise, appellants attempt to show that the Retirement Board's implementation of SHARP was not for the exclusive benefit of trust beneficiaries. This contention ignores the fact that Scott funded and will continue to fund SERP. The only benefit received by Scott was the indirect benefit of enhanced efficiency. Appellants have cited no binding case law suggesting that such consequential benefit to an employer is impermissible under ERISA. Use of the SERP surplus to pay SHARP benefits in no way decreases either appellants' rights under SERP or Scott's obligation to fully fund SERP. Thus, appellants fail in their argument that the Retirement Board improperly diverted funds to Scott's benefit. 12 Appellants' argument that the implementation of SHARP improperly benefitted only some of SERP's participants is answered by our conclusion that the Retirement Board had no authority to specify the plants at which employees would be eligible for SHARP. Without such authority, there is no fiduciary duty. Similarly, appellants' contention that the Retirement Board violated the express terms of SHARP has no merit. Appellants note that SHARP provides that SHARP is to be made available in a non-discriminatory manner. Discrimination is the disparate treatment of those who are similarly situated. Before the adoption of SHARP, Scott determined which of its plants were overstaffed and which were lean. Thus, Scott classified its employees into two categories; the Retirement Board had no authority to alter the makeup of those categories. Employees at overstaffed plants and employees at lean plants are not similarly situated. Accordingly, we find that the Retirement Board did not breach the express language of SHARP by offering SHARP only to employees at plants that Scott found to be overstaffed. 1