Opinion ID: 3010104
Heading Depth: 4
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: your spouse, child or children are

Text: eligible because of your disability; .... (App. at 565). (Emphasis added). Upon the merger of Burroughs and Sperry the resulting corporation, Unisys, proceeded to draft a new plan for the employees of the constituent corporations. The new LTD Plan became effective on April 1, 1988, but the drafting process continued for a considerable period of time thereafter. In August 1988 Travelers, at Unisys' request, prepared and forwarded to Unisys a draft of the proposed text of the LTD Plan. The draft, in the form of a marked-up printer's proof dated June 20, 1988, contained an Income from Other Sources text that expressly provided for the offset of LTD benefits by the amounts of dependent Social Security benefits. (App. at 455-56). At the same time Unisys' Director of Benefit Programs and Planning, Mary Massman, undertook to draft a number of benefit plans including a new LTD Plan. She drew heavily upon the Burroughs and Sperry plans, cut and pasted them and produced the new Unisys LTD Plan document. This document was adopted rather than the proof which Travelers had provided. Under the Unisys LTD Plan as prepared by Ms. Massman, employees could elect to participate by agreeing to pay the applicable rates for coverage. The Plan is fully funded by employee contributions. Participants qualifying for LTD benefits would receive 66-2/3% of your pay if you are totally disabled. Benefits continue for so long as you are totally disabled, until you recover or reach the maximum benefit period. (App. at 31617). The income from other sources language differed significantly from the language of the Sperry and Burroughs Plans and from the language of the Travelers proof. The new LTD Plan did not provide in so many words for a deduction of Social Security benefits paid to dependents. Its income from other sources provision read: The LTD you receive may be adjusted if you receive pension benefits from Unisys and/or disability income from other sources, such as Social Security, Workers' Compensation or state disability benefits. If the combination of benefits from these sources and the Unisys LTD Plan equals more than 75% of your pay, the Unisys LTD benefit will be reduced to bring the total benefit from all sources to this 75% level. Regardless of this feature, if you qualify for an LTD benefit, you will receive at least $100 per month from the Plan. (App. at 316). (Emphasis added). At her deposition Ms. Massman testified that this language was intended to include adjustments for Social Security benefits received by dependents as well as by the disabled employee: A. Okay. It was always the intent of the company that if income was payable by virtue of a disability of one of our participants that that income would be taken into account in determining the offset. Because it was only payable by virtue of the fact that the person was disabled. Therefore, it didn't seem necessary to stipulate the difference between the two. Because it was only being paid because our participant was disabled. So it was always our intent to offset the individual and the family Social Security disability benefit. (App. at 495). A. Because an individual or a family member would have received no Social Security absent that disability. To me it was a source of income, that was the sole result of the fact that our participant was disabled. Therefore, it did not seem necessary to specify separately 'family' or 'individual'. . . . Q. As I understand your testimony, the words 'family' or 'dependent' were not used because you just didn't feel it was necessary? A. That's correct. Q. All right. The matter was clear. A. It was very clear to me. (App. at 488). Unisys, as Plan administrator, had the right to interpret the Plan's terms: The Plan administrator has authority to control and manage the operation and administration of the plans. . . . The administrator for processing benefit requests will pay benefits in accordance with the terms of the plans. All final decisions with respect to the administration and interpretation of the terms of the plan, however, remain with the plan administrator. (App. at 320A, 320B). After the Plan became effective in April 1988 Unisys distributed explanatory materials to its employees. Its 1991 Enrollment Guide issued in the fall of 1990 provided the first notice to all employees that LTD benefits were reduced by dependent Social Security benefits. There was no modification at that time of the text of the LTD Plan or of its Summary Plan Description. The 1992 Enrollment Guide did not contain a comparable notification. In the spring of 1993, with effect from January 1, 1993, Unisys republished its LTD Plan. This document expressly states that benefits are subject to reduction by amounts of dependent Social Security awards. Unisys asserts that the new language expressed a continuation, rather than a change, of an existing provision. From the outset, upon Unisys' instructions, Travelers reduced benefits payable under the Plan by the amounts of Social Security benefits payable not only to Plan participants but also by the amounts payable to dependents. Until early 1991, when questioned about the appropriateness of the deductions on account of dependent benefits, Travelers supported its practice by sending to the claimant a copy of the printer's proof, representing that it constituted the text of the LTD Plan. This proof was not the text of the Plan and had never been adopted by Unisys.