Opinion ID: 217949
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: The ROR Is Limited Only by the Prior Loss Proviso.

Text: The Reservation of Rights Clause contains a single internal limitation, the Prior Loss Proviso, which prohibits retroactive application of amendments that reduce benefits. See 3 Aplt.App. 638. Thus, under the interpretive canon of expressio unius est exclusio alterius which we have previously applied to ERISA plans, see Chiles, 95 F.3d at 1512inclusion of the Prior Loss Proviso as a limitation on the Reservation of Rights Clause compels the conclusion that the Prior Loss Proviso is the only limit on Qwest's rights under the ROR. This confirms our interpretation of the Plan Documents: the Minimum Benefits Provision does not proscribe Qwest's rights to amend the Plan under the Reservation of Rights Clause.