Cite as: 508 U. S. 248 (1993)
White, J., dissenting
By contrast, punitive damages were among the "legal remedies" available in common-law trust cases. In those trust cases that historically could have been brought as actions at law—such as where a trustee is under an immediate and unconditional duty to pay over funds to a beneficiary, see ante, at 256, n. 6—it has been acknowledged that the beneficiary may recover punitive as well as compensatory damages. See Fleishman v. Krause, Lindsay & Nahstoll, 261 Ore. 505, 495 P. 2d 268 (1972) (reversing and remanding for jury trial beneficiary's claim for punitive and compensatory damages); Dixon v. Northwestern Nat. Bank of Minneapolis, 297 F. Supp. 485 (Minn. 1969) (same). Moreover, while the majority of courts adhere to the view that equity courts, even in trust cases, cannot award punitive damages, see Note, Participant and Beneficiary Remedies Under ERISA: Extracontractual and Punitive Damages After Massachusetts Mutual Life Insurance Co. v. Russell, 71 Cornell L.
(1975); Superior Constr. Co. v. Elmo, 204 Md. 1, 16, 104 A. 2d 581, 583 (1954); Given v. United Fuel Gas Co., 84 W. Va. 301, 306, 99 S. E. 476, 478 (1919); Orkin Exterminating Co. of South Florida v. Truly Nolen, Inc., 117 So. 2d 419, 422-423 (Fla. App. 1960); D. Dobbs, Remedies § 3.9, pp. 211-212 (1973). Thus, even "where, in equitable actions, it becomes necessary to award damages, only compensatory damages should be allowed." Karns v. Allen, 135 Wis. 48, 58, 115 N. W. 357, 361 (1908); see also Coca-Cola Co. v. Dixi-Cola Laboratories, 155 F. 2d 59, 63 (CA4), cert. denied, 329 U. S. 773 (1946); United States v. Bernard, 202 F. 728, 732 (CA9 1913); 1 T. Sedgwick, Measure of Damages § 371, p. 531 (8th ed. 1891).
The majority denigrates this traditional rule by citing to Professor Dobbs' 1973 treatise on remedies. That treatise noted a "modern" trend among some courts (on the eve of ERISA's enactment) to allow punitive damages in equity cases, but it also noted that the majority rule remained otherwise. Moreover, the trend Professor Dobbs identified was driven in large part by the "modern" merger of law and equity and by the consequent belief that there is no longer any reason to disallow "legal" remedies in what traditionally were "equitable" actions. See ante, at 258, n. 8. Accordingly, the majority's observation in no way undermines the validity of the traditional rule—well ensconsed at the time of ERISA's enactment— that punitive damages were not an appropriate equitable remedy, even in trust cases.
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