Mertens v. Hewitt Associates, 508 U.S. 248, 27 (1993)

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274

MERTENS v. HEWITT ASSOCIATES

White, J., dissenting

insufficient grounds. The text of the statute supports a reading of § 502(a)(3) that would permit a court to award compensatory monetary relief where necessary to make an ERISA beneficiary whole for a breach of trust. Such a reading would accord with the established equitable remedies available under the common law of trusts, to which Congress has directed us in construing ERISA, and with Congress' primary goal in enacting the statute, the protection of beneficiaries' financial security against corrupt or inept plan mismanagement. Finally, such a reading would avoid the perverse and, in this case, entirely needless result of construing ERISA so as to deprive beneficiaries of remedies they enjoyed prior to the statute's enactment. For these reasons, I respectfully dissent.

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