Cite as: 516 U. S. 489 (1996)
Opinion of the Court
right to "appropriate equitable relief . . . to redress" the harm that this deception had caused them individually. Among other remedies the court considered "appropriate equitable relief" was an order that Massey-Ferguson reinstate its former employees into its own plan (which had continued to provide benefits to employees of Massey-Ferguson's profitable divisions). The court also ordered certain monetary relief which is not at issue here. The Court of Appeals later affirmed the District Court's determinations, in relevant part. 36 F. 3d 746 (CA8 1994).
We granted certiorari in this case primarily because the Courts of Appeals have disagreed about the proper interpretation of ERISA § 502(a)(3), the provision the District Court held authorized the lawsuit and relief in this case. Some Courts of Appeals have held that this section, when applied to a claim of breach of fiduciary obligation, does not authorize awards of relief to individuals, but instead only authorizes suits to obtain relief for the plan (as, for example, when a beneficiary sues in a representative capacity, seeking to compel a dishonest fiduciary to return embezzled funds to the plan). See McLeod v. Oregon Lithoprint Inc., 46 F. 3d 956 (CA9 1995); Simmons v. Southern Bell Telephone and Telegraph Co., 940 F. 2d 614 (CA11 1991). Other Courts of Appeals, such as the Eighth Circuit in this case, have not read any such limitation into the statute. See Bixler v. Central Pennsylvania Teamsters Health & Welfare Fund, 12 F. 3d 1292 (CA3 1993); Anweiler v. American Electric Power Service Corp., 3 F. 3d 986 (CA7 1993).
Varity has raised two additional issues. First, Varity points out that the relevant ERISA section imposes liability only upon plan fiduciaries; and it argues that it was acting only as an employer and not as a plan fiduciary when it deceived its employees. Second, it argues that, in any event, its conduct did not violate the fiduciary standard that ERISA imposes.
495
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