Cite as: 520 U. S. 510 (1997)
Opinion of the Court
sour. Section 510 counterbalances this flexibility by requiring employers to follow a plan's formal amendment process, thus ensuring that employers do not "circumvent the provision of promised benefits." Ingersoll-Rand Co. v. McClendon, 498 U. S. 133, 143. Any tension that might exist between an employer's amendment power and a participant's § 510 rights is the product of a careful balance of competing interests, not the type of "absurd or glaringly unjust" result, Ingalls Shipbuilding, Inc. v. Director, Office of Workers' Compensation Programs, 519 U. S. 248, 261, that would warrant departure from § 510's plain language. On remand, the Court of Appeals should have the first opportunity to evaluate respondents' remaining arguments, including their argument that petitioners were eligible to receive welfare benefits under the SFTS-Teamsters plan at the time they were discharged and, thus, cannot state a § 510 claim. Pp. 514-517.
80 F. 3d 348, vacated and remanded.
O'Connor, J., delivered the opinion for a unanimous Court.
Richard E. Schwartz argued the cause for petitioners. With him on the briefs was James E. Parrot.
Cornelia T. L. Pillard argued the cause for the United States as amicus curiae urging reversal. With her on the brief were Acting Solicitor General Dellinger, Deputy Solicitor General Kneedler, J. Davitt McAteer, Allen H. Feldman, and Mark S. Flynn.
James D. Holzhauer argued the cause for respondents. With him on the brief for respondents Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe Railway Co. et al. was Alan E. Untereiner. Patrick W. Jordan and Robin M. Schachter filed a brief for respondent In-Terminal Services.*
Justice O'Connor delivered the opinion of the Court.
Section 510 of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA), 88 Stat. 895, makes it unlawful to
*Mary Ellen Signorille, Melvin Radowitz, and Ronald Dean filed a brief for the American Association of Retired Persons et al. as amici curiae urging reversal.
Robert N. Eccles, Karen M. Wahle, Jan S. Amundson, Quentin Riegel, Robert W. Blanchette, and Kenneth P. Kolson filed a brief for the Employers Group et al. as amici curiae urging affirmance.
511
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