Wetzler v. Illinois CPA Soc'y & Found., No. 08-2923

In plaintiff's ERISA suit against the Illinois CPA Society & Foundation Retirement Income Plan (Plan) for denying his request for a lump-sum distribution, district court's grant of summary judgment in favor of defendants is affirmed where: 1) the district court applied the correct standard of review to both the administrator's interpretation of the terms of the Plan and the legal determination of whether the plan violated the anti-cutback provisions of ERISA; 2) administrator's interpretation of the plan such that a lump-sum benefits was not available to plaintiff prior to Amendment One is well-reasoned and not arbitrary and capricious; 3) Amendment One did not eliminate an "optional form of benefit" and does not violate ERISA's anti-cutback provision because the plan participants were not entitled, under the Plan, to a lump-sum distribution; and 4) administrator's decision to deny a lump-sum distribution to plaintiff was not arbitrary and capricious as it would have put the Plan in deficit and would have violated the Internal Revenue Code, thus risking the tax status of the plan for all of its participants.     

Read Wetzler v. Illinois CPA Soc'y & Found., No. 08-2923

Appellate Information

Appeal from the United States District Court for the Central District of Illinois

Decided November 10, 2009

Judges

Before:  Kanne and Manion, Circuit Judges, and Kendall, District Judge

Opinion by Manion, Circuit Judge