Opinion ID: 715734
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: standard of review

Text: 8 We review de novo the district court's grant of summary judgment, applying the same standard employed by the district court under Fed.R.Civ.P. 56. Blue Circle Cement, Inc. v. Board of County Comm'rs, 27 F.3d 1499, 1503 (10th Cir.1994). Summary judgment is appropriate if the pleadings, depositions, answers to interrogatories, and admissions on file, together with the affidavits, if any, show that there is no genuine issue as to any material fact, and that the moving party is entitled to judgment as a matter of law. Fed.R.Civ.P. 56(c). In reviewing a party's motion for summary judgment, the court construes all facts and reasonable inferences in the light most favorable to the nonmoving party. Headrick v. Rockwell International Corp., 24 F.3d 1272, 1275 (10th Cir.1994). 9
10 We review de novo a denial of benefits under an ERISA plan unless the benefit plan gives the administrator or fiduciary discretionary authority to determine eligibility for benefits or to construe the terms of the plan. Firestone Tire & Rubber Co. v. Bruch, 489 U.S. 101, 115, 109 S.Ct. 948, 956-57, 103 L.Ed.2d 80 (1989). If a benefit plan does give an administrator discretionary authority to construe doubtful provisions of the plan itself, the administrator's decision must be upheld unless it was arbitrary and capricious, not supported by substantial evidence or erroneous on a question of law. Millensifer v. Retirement Plan, 968 F.2d 1005, 1009 (10th Cir.1992) (quoting Woolsey v. Marion Lab., Inc., 934 F.2d 1452, 1457 (10th Cir.1991)). If an administrator or fiduciary empowered to interpret the plan is operating under a conflict of interest, that conflict must be weighed as a 'facto[r] in determining whether there is an abuse of discretion.'  Bruch, 489 U.S. at 115, 109 S.Ct. at 957 (quoting Restatement (Second) of Trusts 187, comment d (1959)). 11 In this case, we need not determine whether the Retirement Plan bestows upon the Board discretionary authority sufficient to warrant deferential review under Bruch. We conclude that the Board's actions, including its interpretation of the plant closure provision and its denial of early retirement benefits to Plaintiff, were arbitrary and capricious and therefore fail even under the most deferential standard.