No Merits Judgment Necessary, Says Unanimous High Court.
In Hardt v. Reliance Standard Life Ins. Co., Case No. 09-448 (U.S. May 24, 2010), the U.S. Supreme Court unanimously ruled that, under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA), 29 U.S.C. § 1132(g)(1) gives district courts discretion to award fees to either party, even if the fee claimant is not a “prevailing party.”
The Fourth Circuit had vacated a district court’s fee award to a disabled worker under ERISA because the defendant voluntarily paid benefits before any merits judgment was entered (i.e., the district court gave the defendant time to reassess the benefits application before granting summary judgment to the plaintiff).
In reversing the Court of Appeals, the high court ruled that because Congress failed to include “prevailing party” limiting language in section 1132(g)(1), the Fourth Circuit’s construction otherwise would be tantamount to “invent[ing] a statute rather than interpret[ing] one.”
