Castillo v. Metropolitan Life Insurance Co., No. 19-56093 (9th Cir. 2020)
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29 U.S.C. 1132(a)(3) does not authorize an award of attorney's fees incurred during the administrative phase of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) claims process. The Ninth Circuit affirmed the district court's dismissal of an ERISA action brought by plaintiff against MetLife. The district court granted MetLife's motion to dismiss the complaint, agreeing with MetLife that attorney's fees awards are not other appropriate equitable relief under section 1132(a)(3).
In Cann v. Carpenters' Pension Trust Fund for Northern California, 989 F.3d 313 (9th Cir. 1993), the panel held that attorney's fees incurred in administrative proceedings are not recoverable under section 1132(g), ERISA's express fee-shifting provision. The panel was obligated to read section 1132(a)(3) in conjunction with section 1132(g). Under the expressio unius canon, section 1132(g)'s silence as to fees incurred in an administrative proceeding gives rise to the inference that section 1132(a)(3) does not authorize such fees.
Court Description: Employee Retirement Income Security Act. Affirming the district court’s dismissal of an action under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act, the panel held that 29 U.S.C. § 1132(a)(3) does not authorize an award of attorney’s fees incurred during the administrative phase of the ERISA claims process. In administrative proceedings, plaintiff filed a successful appeal from defendant’s reduction of his long-term disability benefits to account for his rollover of his pension benefits into an individual retirement account. Plaintiff subsequently filed a civil action under § 1132(a)(3), alleging that defendant, the administrator of the ERISA plan, breached its fiduciary duties of prudence and loyalty by delaying its determination of the effect of plaintiff’s rollover of his pension benefits and failing to inform him that it was considering an offset based on the rollover. Plaintiff sought an order surcharging defendant for his losses, measured by the amount of attorney’s fees he was forced to incur to get defendant to reverse the reduction of his disability benefits. The panel held that the attorney’s fees incurred in an administrative proceeding did not constitute “appropriate equitable relief” under § 1132(a)(3). The panel reasoned that allowing an award of such fees would contravene this court’s decision in Cann v. Carpenters’ Pension Trust Fund for Northern California, 989 F.3d 313 (9th Cir. 1993), which CASTILLO V. METROPOLITAN LIFE INS. CO. 3 held that such awards would undermine ERISA’s purpose of ensuring plan soundness and stability. The panel noted, moreover, that ERISA’s express fee-shifting provision, 29 U.S.C. § 1132(g), authorizes an award of attorney’s fees incurred in a civil action but is silent as to fees incurred in an administrative proceeding. Under the expressio unius canon, this silence gives rise to the inference that § 1132(a)(3) does not authorize such fees.
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