Thole v. U.S. Bank, N.A.

Case Updates

The U.S. Supreme Court held that a participant in a defined-benefit ERISA plan who has received all vested benefits—and who has not shown a “substantially increased risk that the plan and employer would both fail”—has no standing to sue for breach of fiduciary duty under ERISA. In recent years, there has been a significant increase in suits alleging that retirement plan fiduciaries breached their duties. This decision is a good outcome for employers with defined-benefit plans because it will prevent wasteful and abusive litigation by uninjured participants.

The U.S. Chamber filed an amicus brief in support of U.S. Bank at the merits stage. We also filed an amicus brief in this case when it was before the Eighth Circuit, which issued a favorable decision.

The coalition amicus brief urges the Supreme Court to hold that a participant in a defined benefit retirement plan does not suffer a cognizable injury for breach of fiduciary duty under Article III unless the alleged breach materially increases the risk that the participant will not receive his or her promised benefits. Nancy G. Ross, Jed W. Glickstein, Andrew J. Pincus, and Brian D. Netter of Mayer Brown LLP served as co-counsel for the amici.

The U.S. Chamber previously filed an amicus brief when this case was before the Eighth Circuit.