The Handbook of Employee Benefits: Health and Group Benefits 7/E, 7th Edition

CHAPTER 26Fiduciary Liability Issues Under ERISA

Alan P. Cleveland

An appreciation of the legal duties and responsibilities of a fiduciary to the participants and beneficiaries of a trusteed employee benefit plan is both fundamentally simple and exceptionally difficult. Legal definitions and statements of basic principles that seem straightforward in concept often prove elusive when applied in real situations. A plan fiduciary in the discharge of his or her duties under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA) is well advised to err on the side of caution, to resolve doubt in favor of a liberal interpretation of plan benefits, to be well informed at all times of the duties and responsibilities of all the fiduciaries of the ...