268
White, J., dissenting
in which to give "appropriate equitable relief" a limiting effect, the majority feels compelled to read the phrase as encompassing only "those categories of relief that were typically available" in the broad run of equity cases, without regard to the particular equitable remedies available in trust cases. See ante, at 256 (emphasis in original). This would include injunction and restitution, for example, but not money damages. See ibid. As I see it, however, the words "appropriate equitable relief" are no more than descriptive and simply refer to all remedies available in equity under the common law of trusts, whether or not they were or are the exclusive remedies for breach of trust.
I disagree with the majority's inference that by using the term "legal . . . relief" elsewhere in ERISA, Congress demonstrated a considered judgment to constrict the relief available under § 502(a)(3). To be sure, § 502(g)(2)(E) of the statute empowers courts to award appropriate "legal or equitable relief" where a fiduciary successfully sues an employer for failing to make required contributions to a "multi-employer plan." § 1132(g)(2)(E). Likewise, § 104(a)(5)(C) authorizes the Secretary of Labor to bring "a civil action for such legal or equitable relief as may be appropriate" to force the administrator of an employee benefit plan to file certain plan documents with the Secretary. 29 U. S. C. § 1024(a)(5)(C). And, finally, §§ 4003(e)(1) and 4301(a)(1) of the statute, also cited by the majority, empower courts to dispense "appropriate relief, legal or equitable or both," in actions brought by the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation (PBGC) or by plan fiduciaries, participants, or benefici-aries with respect to the peculiar statutory duties relating to the PBGC. 29 U. S. C. § 1303(e)(1); see also § 1451(a)(1) (authorizing "an action for appropriate legal or equitable relief, or both"). Significantly, however, none of the causes of action described in these sections—relating to the financing of "multiemployer plans," administrative filing requirements, and the PBGC—had any discernible analogue in the common
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