Opinion ID: 1311193
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: The Standard the District Court Used to Review the Decision of the Board of Trustees.

Text: [1] The Board of Trustees first argues that the district court erred by failing to review its decision to suspend Brown's early retirement benefits under the abuse of discretion standard. We review de novo a district court's choice and application of the standard of review to decisions by fiduciaries in ERISA cases. Abatie v. Alta Health & Life Ins. Co., 458 F.3d 955, 962 (9th Cir. 2006) (en banc). [2] The parties argued before the district court that the decision of the Board of Trustees to suspend Brown's early retirement benefits should be reviewed for abuse of discretion. The district court found that it was not clear that abuse of discre tion review was appropriate. The district court did not determine the correct standard of review, however, because it reasoned that its decision would be the same under either abuse of discretion or de novo review. Because we agree with the district court that the result would be the same under either standard of review, we likewise need not decide the question.