Court Opinion

ID: 9427911
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-02 23:22:14.230038+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T17:23:10.473575
License: Public Domain

Mr. Justice Powell,
dissenting.
I join Mr. Justice Stewart’s dissenting opinion and add only a brief word. The difference between the majority and dissenting opinions in this case turns almost entirely upon the construction of language in petitioner’s pension plan. This plan is an agreement negotiated in good faith by the petitioner and the union representing employees covered by the plan. Everyone concedes that the plan is a valid contract enforceable according to its terms, except to the extent that ERISA provides otherwise. The petitioner lawfully terminated the plan on December 31, 1975.
It is perfectly clear, at least to me, that the plain language of the plan conditioned the employees’ benefits in the event of termination upon the adequacy of the assets then remain*397ing in the fund. If ERISA had not been enacted, the respondent Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation acknowledges, the employees’ benefits would have been limited by this condition. The respondent contends, however, that ERISA— and the respondent’s own regulatory definition of “nonfor-feitable”- — require a construction of the plan that neither the petitioner nor its employees intended. I assume for present purposes that Congress could mandate this result. But in the absence of a cleár expression of congressional intent, I would not conclude that Congress meant to alter contractual arrangements between private parties. For the reasons stated in the dissenting opinion, I find no such intent relevant to this case in either the ambiguous language of ERISA or its legislative history.
I add only that the decision today has little consequence beyond the resolution of this case. As I read the opinions, the decision affects only pension plans terminated on or before December 31, 1975, that contained language substantially identical to the language in petitioner’s plan.