The Capital Group Companies, Inc., et al. v. Cathy Pover

Section 502(a)(2) of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA) allows a plan participant to bring an action “for appropriate relief” under ERISA § 409. 29 U.S.C. § 1132(a)(2). Section 409, in turn, provides that a plan fiduciary who breaches a duty is “liable to make good to such plan any losses” resulting from that breach. Id. § 1109(a). In Massachusetts Mutual Life Insurance Co. v. Russell, 473 U.S. 134, 144 (1985), the Court held, in the context of defined-benefit plans (which promise fixed income), that “recovery for a violation of § 409” goes to “the plan as a whole,” so § 502(a)(2) authorizes relief only “for the plan itself.” In LaRue v. DeWolff, Boberg & Associates, Inc., 552 U.S. 248, 256 (2008), the Court held, in the context of defined-contribution plans (which promise the value of individual accounts, which may fluctuate), that § 502(a)(2) authorizes “recovery for fiduciary breaches that impair the value of plan assets in a participant’s individual account.” Since LaRue, the courts of appeals have split on the scope of “appropriate relief” for defined-contribution-plan-participant plaintiffs. In the Fourth Circuit, those plaintiffs can seek monetary recovery to only their “individual retirement account[s].” Trauernicht v. Genworth Financial Inc., 169. F.4th 459, 468-69 (4th Cir. 2026) (Niemeyer, J.). But seven circuits, including the Ninth Circuit here, hold that § 502(a)(2) doesn’t “limit” plaintiffs “to recovering losses suffered only by their individual accounts.” App. 21a. The question presented is whether “appropriate relief” for a defined-contribution-plan participant under ERISA § 502(a)(2) includes monetary recovery to other participants’ individual retirement accounts.