Court Opinion

ID: 9438029
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-03 05:11:22.651582+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T17:25:19.149969
License: Public Domain

McCONNELL, Circuit Judge,
concurring.
I respectfully concur in the result and join the majority’s opinion in full, with the exception of its conclusion that a lump-sum benefit can never constitute a retirement-type subsidy under ERISA. See Op. 18-21 (relying on Steiner Corp. Retirement Plan v. Johnson & Higgins of Cal, 31 F.3d 935 (10th Cir.1994)). The court finds that Steiner Corp. remains good law, notwithstanding a subsequent regulation adopted by the Treasury Department defining a retirement-type subsidy simply as “the excess, if any, of the actuarial present value of a retirement-type benefit over the actuarial present value of the accrued ben*1152efit commencing at normal retirement age or at actual commencement date, if later....” 26 C.F.R. § 1.411 (d)-3(g)(6)(iv). Because I think the Treasury Department’s regulation puts into question the continuing validity of Steiner Corp., I would not resolve the question of whether the PDB-Equivalent constitutes a retirement-type subsidy on this ground.
Instead, I would find that the PDB-Equivalent cannot be a retirement-type subsidy for the simple reason that a death benefit is a welfare benefit rather than a retirement benefit, regardless of its mechanism of distribution. See 29 U.S.C. § 1002(1)(A) (listing death benefits as an aspect of a “welfare” plan rather than a pension plan); In re Lucent Death Benefits ERISA Litigation, 541 F.3d 250, 255-56 (finding pensioner death benefit to be a welfare benefit); Ross v. Pension Plan for Hourly Employees of SKF Industries, Inc., 847 F.2d 329, 333-34 (6th Cir.1988) (quoting S.Rep. No. 575, 98th Cong., 2d Sess. 30, reprinted in 1984 U.S.Code Cong. & Admin. News 2547, 2576) (“The committee expects, however, that ... a death benefit ... will not be considered a retirement-type subsidy”). ERISA’s anti-cutback provision does not apply to welfare benefits. 29 U.S.C. § 1051(1); see Robinson v. Sheet Metal Workers’ National Pension Fund, Plan A, 515 F.3d 93, 98 (2d Cir.2008). Because a death benefit is a welfare benefit, it does not matter whether it is paid in installments or as a lump sum; either way, it is not subject to ERISA’s anti-cutback requirement.
In all other respects, I agree with the majority.