Cite as: 508 U. S. 248 (1993)
White, J., dissenting
subsidiary goal of containing pension costs." Alessi v. Raybestos-Manhattan, Inc., 451 U. S. 504, 515 (1981); see also Russell, 473 U. S., at 148, n. 17. We will not attempt to adjust the balance between those competing goals that the text adopted by Congress has struck.
* * *
The judgment of the Court of Appeals is
Affirmed.
Justice White, with whom The Chief Justice, Justice Stevens, and Justice O'Connor join, dissenting.
The majority candidly acknowledges that it is plausible to interpret the phrase "appropriate equitable relief" as used in § 502(a)(3), 88 Stat. 891, 29 U. S. C. § 1132(a)(3), at least standing alone, as meaning that relief which was available in the courts of equity for a breach of trust. Ante, at 256. The majority also acknowledges that the relief petitioners seek here—a compensatory monetary award—was available in the equity courts under the common law of trusts, not only against trustees for breach of duty, but also against nonfiduciaries knowingly participating in a breach of trust, ante, at 256, 261, 262. Finally, there can be no dispute that ERISA was grounded in this common-law experience and that "we are [to be] guided by principles of trust law" in construing the terms of the statute. Firestone Tire & Rubber Co. v. Bruch, 489 U. S. 101, 111 (1989). Nevertheless, the majority today holds that in enacting ERISA Congress stripped ERISA trust beneficiaries of a remedy against trustees and third parties that they enjoyed in the equity courts under common law. Although it is assumed that a cause of action against a third party such as respondent is provided by ERISA, the remedies available are limited to the "traditional" equitable remedies, such as injunction and restitution, and do not include compensatory damages—"the classic form of legal relief." Ante, at 255 (emphasis in original).
263
Page: Index Previous 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 NextLast modified: October 4, 2007