A bill to amend the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 to facilitate recovery, in civil actions brought by participants and beneficiaries under employee benefit plans, of benefits wrongfully denied them under such plans, and to provide for recovery by such participants and beneficiaries of a reasonable attorney's fee and costs of the action in all cases in which such denials are arbitrary or capricious.

Summary

Amends the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 to require, in civil enforcement actions by employee benefit plan participants or beneficiaries, that the court examine the plan administrator's denial of benefits claimed in each case de novo and without any presumption as to the correctness of the denial. Provides that the participant or beneficiary may recover such benefits by proving, by a preponderance of the evidence, that the administrator erred in such denial. Permits the participant or beneficiary to recover reasonable attorneys' fees and costs of such action from the administrator, if the administrator is found to have wrongfully denied such benefits in an aribtrary and capricious manner.

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1 official file

• Introduced in House

  summary · EN · 29 April 1982

  Open at official source

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