This is аn appeal from a district court order granting summary judgment in favor of the defendant benefit plans and company. Plaintiff-appellant alleged that defendants breached their fiduciary duty and their obligation to provide a “full and fair” review of a request for claims when they refused to disburse cash to a trust fund established by a former employee of General Electric. Both parties agree that by default, under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (“ERISA”), 29 U.S.C. § 1001 et seq., money should go to the surviving spouse of the decedent. They also agree that decedent did not execute a valid transfer of entitlements to the plaintiff Trust. The plans required that any such change involve a form that bore the signature of the beneficiary, the signature of the spouse consenting to a transfer of benefits, and the signature of a notary or plan representаtive witnessing the prior two. At one point, decedent brought in the appropriate form to work with his signature on it and another he claimed belonged to his wife. A notary public signed it, but later swore in an affidavit that she did not actually witness the two principal signatures and that her certification was invalid. The Trustee acknowledges all of this, but nonetheless attempts to mount a collateral attack on the plans’ decision to disburse money to the then-living spouse (the one beneficiary recognized by law). We affirm.
I. Background
Defendants-appellees GE Pension Plan and GE Savings and Security Program (collectively, “the Plan”) are benefit plans organized under ERISA. Defendant General Electric Company (“GE”) operated a facility in Ottawa, Illinois. The Plan designated GE as its administrator.
Decedent, Ronald J. Lehn (“Lehn”) was employed by GE at the Ottawa facility. Lehn had two children from a prior marriage, Samuel Lehn (“Samuel”) and Sarah Lehn (“Sarah”). He married Lisa Lehn on June 6, 1991, and remained married to her until his death. On June 3, 1991, he designated Lisa Lehn as his primary beneficiary under the Plan. By 2002, Lehn’s retirement accounts with the Plan exceeded a million dollars. After consulting with an attorney, Lehn signed a Declaration of Trust on July 25, 2002 (“the Trust”), to implement his estate plan. The Trust provided that following payment of expenses and taxes, the Trustee was directed to pay 25% of the principal and undistributed income to Lehn’s spouse, Lisa Lehn; 25% of the principal and undistributed income to Samuel; 25% of the principal and undistributed income to Sarah; and 25% of the principal and undistributed income to Lehn’s siblings and parents.
Sometime prior to March 2005, Lehn contacted employees at GE’s Ottawa facility to obtain a Beneficiary Designation (“BD”) form. On March 27, 2005, 2 he presеnted to GE the signed BD form designating the Trustee as the primary beneficiary and recipient of all of his benefits under the Plan. The form bore the following language:
STOP — If you are married your spouse is automatically your only primary bene *687 ficiary under the GE Pension and Savings & Security Plans. If you wish to name someone other than your spouse as primary beneficiary for these plans you must do the following: 1) complete and sign this designation form; 2) obtain your spouse’s signature on this designation form; AND 3) complete and obtain the required signatures on the Consent Form which accompanies this designation form.
Likewise, the Plan specifically provided that if a participant is married at the time of his death, his spouse will be the automatic beneficiary of any death benefits payable under the Plan unless the spouse consents to the designation of a different beneficiary in accordance with sрecific procedures. Among other requirements, the spouse’s consent must acknowledge the effect of the decision to waive benefits, and the spouse’s signature must be “witnessed by a Plan representative or notary public.” These criteria parallel the ERISA rule that a spouse may waive his or her right to death benefits under a retirement plan only if the spouse’s consent acknowledges the effect of the waiver “and is witnessed by a plan representative or notary public.” 29 U.S.C. § 1055(c)(2)(A)(iii).
After Lehn attempted to submit the March 27, 2005 BD form, a GE employee informed him that he had to provide evidence of spousal consent in order to designate his trust as a beneficiary. On April 6, 2005, Lehn presented Karen Riveland, an administrative assistant employed at the GE plant who was licensed as an Illinois notary public, with a spousal consent form bearing a signature purporting to belong to Lisa Lehn. The consent form itself included a statement that the spouse’s consent must be witnessed by the notary. Riveland, whose usual duties included handling travel arrangements and performing clerical tasks, signed the form. On April 11, 2005, Lehn submitted this consent form to GE along with the BD form directing the Plan to pay death benefits to appellant Trust.
Lehn died on November 8, 2005. On November 11, 2005, Susan VanderVoort, GE Benefits Specialist, sent a letter to Lisa Lehn, advising her that GE was aware of Lehn’s death and that the records indicated that the Ronald J. Lehn Declaration of Trust was the named beneficiary. On December 15, 2005, Delia Garcia, acting as Lisa Lehn’s guardian and representative, submitted a claim for benefits. Garcia stated that “Lisa Lehn did not validly consent to the payment of any GE benefits to the Ronald J. Lehn Declaration of Trust.” Garcia followed up with a lеtter dated January 4, 2006 asserting that Lisa Lehn was not mentally competent on the date of her purported consent.
On March 22, 2006, an Illinois court adjudicated Lisa Lehn disabled and officially appointed Garcia as her guardian. Garcia informed VanderVoort of this development in a letter dated April 26, 2006. On August 28, 2006, an attorney for Lisa Lehn submitted to VanderVoort affidavits from two of Lisa Lehn’s physicians stating that Lisa’s “cognitive function was severely impaired” from advanced multiple sclerosis and that Lisa was “totally incapable of making financial decisions and understanding financial matters” in March and April 2005. Garcia also forwarded the Plan a letter Ronald Lehn sent to his health insurance company on September 27, 2005, in which he characterized his wife as suffering from dementia and a “senile degenerative brain” disorder since at least June 2004. Said letter described Lisa as “confused,” “disoriented,” “combative,” and “profoundly demented.” Finally, Garcia assembled evidence showing that Lisa had been concerned about her ability to cover her escalating medical expenses at *688 the time of her alleged consent and would not have waived her right to benefits.
During the summer of 2006, the Plan informed plaintiff-appellant about Garcia’s claim that Lisa Lehn could not have competently waived her rights to the decedent’s benefits. Raymond Nolasco, attorney for the Trust, called Riveland and asked if she had notarized the Consent Form for Lehn. Riveland indicated that she had and may have suggested that Lisa Lehn was present when she notarized the document. Approximately a month later, Nolasco called Riveland and asked her to sign an affidavit stating that Lisa Lehn was present when Riveland notarized thе Consent Form. Riveland responded that she could not sign the affidavit because she had never met Lisa Lehn and that Lisa Lehn was not present when the Consent Form was notarized. Nolasco then advised VanderVoort and Joyce Anderson, GE’s in-house Benefits Counsel, to speak to Riveland about the notarization. Anderson contacted Riveland, who admitted that Lisa Lehn was not present when she notarized the Consent Form and swore, to as much in an affidavit. VanderVoort subsequently received a copy of the letter written by Lehn on September 27, 2005 that sought medical coverage for his wife’s inpatient care and described Lisa Lehn as “profoundly demented.”
On October 19, 2006, the Trust filed a complaint against GE, the GE Pension Plan, and the Estate of Lisa Lehn in Illinois Circuit Court. The Trust held off serving process on defendants to facilitate negotiation. The complaint allеged a breach of fiduciary duty and failure to pay benefits under ERISA as well as several state-law violations.
On December 5, 2006, Anderson sent a letter to the Trust and Garcia advising them that Lisa Lehn’s claim for benefits was granted while the Trust’s claim was denied. The letter stated:
Karen Riveland notarized [Lisa Lehn’s] signature. Karen Riveland is a GE employee in addition to being a notary. I spoke with Karen Riveland along with Sue Vandervoort [sic], the GE Survivor Support team member who is handling the Lehn matter. Karen told us that she notarized the form at Ronald Lehn’s request at work. Lisa Lehn did not appear before the notary. Without a proper witness, the spousal consent is invalid.
As the surviving spouse of Ronald J. Lehn, Lisa Lehn is the primary beneficiary of the Pension and S&Sp benefits.
Anderson attached Riveland’s affidavit.
Following receipt of the letter, one of the attorneys for appellants, Melissa Sims, requested additional documentation from the Plan. Appellees fulfilled this demand and sent over the Summary Plan Description (“SPD”), Lehn’s entire claim file, and Karen Riveland’s job description. The Plan had provided the Trust with a copy of the disputed consent form on a prior occasion (appellants attached it to their original state court complaint).
On March 20, 2007, Sims emailed Anderson the following message:
After careful review, it has been determined that the intended plan beneficiary designation to the Ronald Lehn Trust was not legally effectuated based upon the representations made by your employee, Karen Riveland.
In that connection [sic], we believe the law is such that the benefits according to the plan must be paid over to the surviving spouse, Lisa Lehn. Our complaint will not be dismissed as we will be adding a separate count against your client for breach of fiduciary duty in effectuating the intended plan beneficiary to the trust.
You should discuss with Attorney John Sandberg the manner in which the funds *689 must be paid over to his client, who is currently disabled.
In June 2007, the Trust served process on defendants-appellees, who removed the action to federal court.
On October 29, 2007, the $1,118,283.39 in Lehn’s GE Savings & Security Program account was paid to the Estate of Lisa Lehn. On December 1, 2007, the GE Pension Plan paid out the sums of $115,743.27 and $11,772.74 to Lisa’s Estate as well.
On July 31, 2008, Judge Mihm granted GE’s motion to dismiss plaintiff-appellant’s breach of fiduciary duty claim on the grounds that the complaint did not identify any of the named defendants as fiduciaries who breached their duties under ERISA. 3 The district court also dismissed the Trust’s state law claim under the Illinois Notary Public Act. Finally, Judge Mihm dismissed all claims against Riveland and the Estate of Lisa Lehn, noting that, “[w]ith all due respect, Plaintiffs explanation for why the Estate and Garcia were named parties makes no sense.... ” In the same order, the district court denied the Trust’s motion for a jury trial, which is unavailable under ERISA.
This left only the ERISA § 502(a)(1)(B) claim, which entitles a person to bring a civil action “to recover benefits due to him under the terms of his plan, to enforce his rights under the terms of the plan, or to clarify his rights to future benefits under the terms of the plan.” Appellant alleged that the Plan’s decision to deny benefits to the Trust and award them to Lisa Lehn amounted to an arbitrary and capricious action by an administrator prohibited by *690 this provision. On May 4, 2009, the district court granted the Plan’s motion for summary judgment on that issue. It found that documentary evidence of Lisa Lehn’s longstanding illness and incapacity at the time she allegedly signed the form, the Riveland affidavit, and
the admission by Plaintiffs counsel that the Consent Form had not been legally effectuated, is clear and convincing evidence that Riveland’s notarization on the Consent Form was invаlid. The Court must conclude that the Plan’s decision reaching the same conclusion was not arbitrary or capricious, but rather was imminently reasonable, as was its determination that the benefits must be paid to Lisa Lehn under the terms of the Plan documents and ERISA.
The court continued:
Although the Plaintiff erroneously casts her argument in terms of a breach of fiduciary duty claim, she then falls back to the argument that the Plan Administrator acted arbitrarily in processing the claim for benefits under § 502(a)(1)(B) of ERISA. Assuming arguendo that such a claim can be asserted against a plan administrator under § 502(a)(1)(B), Plaintiffs argument would still fail.... While perhaps not a textbook example of how competing claims for benefits should be resolved, the Court finds that the transactions and exchanges that took place between GE and the beneficiaries substantially complied with ERISA’s requirement that specific reasons for a denial of benefits be communicated to a claimant and that the claimant be afforded a full and fair review by the administrator. ... Thus, even assuming that Plaintiff could bring a claim for breach of fiduciary duty in processing benefits pursuant to § 502(a)(1)(B), the Court concludes that such claim would fail. GE’s procedures substantially complied with the requirements of ERISA under Hackett, and any deficiencies did not rise to the level of an arbitrary or capricious claims processing procedure.
The Trust appeals. Its arguments, though poorly developed, center around the proposition that the Plan did not fulfill its obligation to provide a full and fair review of a claim for benefits. For example, appellant states, “[The Anderson letter from Dec. 5, 2006] did not state the basis in the Plan the Plan provision [sic] or the statute on the form of a Spouse’s Consent. That was the basis of the decision, which full and fair review requires be stated” (citing 29 U.S.C. § 1055(c)(2)(A)®). Section 1055(c) sets out the requirements for a valid transfer of benefits from the default beneficiary spouse to a third person. It is the section referenced by the Plan in clauses demanding express spousal consent and notarization. Section 1055(c)(2)(A) explains that a spouse’s election to waive benefits is valid only if:
(i) the spouse of the participant consents in writing to such election,
(ii) such election designates a beneficiary (or a form of benefits) which may not be changed without spousal consent (or the consent of the spouse expressly permits designations by the participant without any requirement of further consent by the spouse), and
(iii) the spouse’s consent acknowledges the effect of such election and is witnessed by a plan representative or a nоtary public....
Appellant next takes issue with the standard of review the district court applied to the Plan’s decision, arguing that the district court should have reexamined the validity of the spousal consent form de novo as a question of law. The Trustee then attempts to append arguments that notary certifications should be interpreted through a lens of state common law and as testamentary acts to their already muddled brief. Section 1291 of Title 28 only *691 grants us jurisdiction over final decisions of the district courts, here the May 4, 2009, summary judgment order. Accordingly, the Trust is restricted to a narrow appellate posture on the issue of whether the district court erred in finding that the Plan complied with ERISA demands of a full and fair review of benefit claims.
II. Discussion
A. Standard of Review
We review a grant of summary judgment de novo.
Semien v. Life Ins. Co. of N. Am.,
In litigation over the payment of benefits under ERISA, our default stance is to examine an administrator’s determination de novo.
Firestone Tire & Rubber Co. v. Bruch,
Appellant nonetheless claims that we should review the Plan’s decision to distribute the funds to Lisa Lehn de novo for compliance with the requirements of ERISA § 502(a)(1)(B). To support this proposition, the Trustee cites a set of cases that grappled with the boundaries of discretion conferred to plan administrators in one narrow area: so-called “deemed denials” of benefits. In these situations, a set of regulations authorizes individuals to file suit in federal court to dispute a plan’s failure to respond to a claim or an appeal within a time limit proscribed by regulation, generally ranging from 45 to 120 days.
See
29 C.F.R. § 2560.503-1(0 (2009). An older version of the regulation implemented this extension of adjudicatory rights by deeming claims met with silence denied, which in turn made them eligible for review by a district court pursuant to ERISA § 502, 29 U.S.C. § 1132.
4
See
*692
generally Jacobson v. SLM Corp. Welfare Benefit Plan,
No. 1:08-cv-0267-DFHDML,
Thus, appellant’s citations to cases like
Jebian v. Hewlett-Packard Co. Employee Benefits Org. Income Prot. Plan,
We have held previously that procedural violations can affect the merits determination concerning whether an abuse of discretion has taken place. Blau v. Del Monte Corp.,748 F.2d 1348 (9th Cir. 1984), ruled that “ordinarily, a claimant who suffers because of a fiduciary’s failure to comply with ERISA’s procedural requirements is entitled to no substantive remedy,” but that if procedural violations result in “substantive harm,” then “a court must consider [such violations] in determining whether the decision to deny benefits in a particular case was arbitrary and capricious.” Blau,748 F.2d at 1353-54 .
For present purposes, however, we leave the more general issue open and decide only that where the plan itself provides that a particular procedural violation results in аn automatic decision rather than one calling for the exercise of the administrator’s discretion, that provision is as enforceable as the provision giving the administrator discretionary authority under other circumstances. Deference to an exercise of discretion requires discretion actually to have been exercised.
Other cases cited by appellant are similarly inapposite.
Krohn v. Huron Memorial Hospital,
We therefore inquire only whether the Plan’s decision to pay out benefits to Lisa Lehn was reasonable, mindful that “[r]e-view under the deferential arbitrary and capricious standard is not a rubber stamp and deference need not be abject. Even under the deferential review we will not uphold a termination when there is an absence of reasoning in the record to support it.”
Hackett,
B. Failure to Pay Benefits
Sections 503 and 505 of ERISA require that “specific reasons for denial be communicated to the claimant and that the claimant be afforded an opportunity for ‘full and fair review* by the administrator.”
Halpin,
As explained by the district court and apparent even from appellant’s statement of facts, the Plan’s decision to deny the Trust’s claim was reasonable and properly communicated. The Trust does not base its contrary position on the contention that Lisa Lehn actually consented to the transfer of benefits, and with good reason — in the face of overwhelming evidence, its counsel admitted the opposite in her March 20, 2007, email. Instead, appellant seeks to deny the Plan the right to use this same evidence to distribute benefits pursuant to federal law.
The Trust cannot succeed in this endeavor. The record before us shows without ambiguity that appellees conducted a diligent, if unusual, investigation prior to reaching a conclusion that appellants acknowledge to be accurate. All available evidence in this case points to the fact that Riveland did not witness Lisa Lehn’s signature and the Plan administratоr did not act unreasonably when finding as much. The Plan then distributed much of this evidence to appellants and summarized the rest in substantively detailed correspondence that satisfies the requirements of 29 U.S.C. § 1133. In a case where plaintiffs-appellants filed a complaint long prior to *694 any adverse determination and then used their counsel to engage in protracted negotiations under threat of moving forward with the action, the Plan duly accorded their position full and fair review.
The Trust argues that “Judge Mihm [improperly] left the decision on the effect of a notary’s recantation of her certification to the discretion of the Plan Administrator. Here that confirmed a truly arbitrary decision because GE gave no consideration to the strong presumption of the validity of a notary certification.” Appellant then proceeds to cite a variety of cases establishing the presumptive validity of testamentary documents and notary certifications.
See, e.g., Colton v. Colton,
This argument has little to do with the actual question before us. The Plan disregarded the spousal consent form not “just” on the basis of Riveland’s negative affidavit, but also because of the voluminous evidence of Lisa Lehn’s incapacity at the time she supposedly signed the document. Even the Trust does not claim that Lisa Lehn actually executed the waiver on March 27, 2005. Thus, the totality of the circumstances in this case unambiguously undermines the validity of the consent form.
By contrast, the cases cited by appellant deal with situations where an individual attempts to dispute the validity of his or her own signature on the basis of a faulty notarization or an unreliable witness. For example, in
Butler v. Encyclopedia Brittanica,
This conclusion is in line with the relevant older decisions of the Supreme Court.
See, e.g., Young v. Duvall,
C. Breach of Fiduciary Duty
Appellant asserts that even if it is not entitled to receive any payment of benefits from the Plan, it may still sue them for breach of fiduciary duty in this § 502(a)(1)(B) action (the Trust does not appeal thе dismissal of its plea for equitable remedies under § 502(a)(3)). This is a novel theory. We have previously differentiated between suits under ERISA § 502(a)(1)(B), which we have characterized as essentially a contract remedy under the terms of the plan,
Herzberger v. Standard Ins. Co.,
Section 510, unlike Section 502(a)(1)(B), is not concerned with whether a defendant complied with the contractual terms of an employee benefit plan. Rather, the emphasis of a Section 510 action is to prevent persons and entities from taking actions which might cut off or interfere with a participant’s ability to collect present or future benefits or which punish a participant for exercising his or her rights under an employee benefit plan. See, e.g., 29 U.S.C. § 1140; Felton v. Unisource Corp.,940 F.2d 503 , 512 (9th Cir.1991). The difference between enforcing the terms of a plan and assuring that parties do not somehow impinge on current or future rights under employee benefit plans may seem subtle at first glance, but upon a close examination it becomes clear that the distinction is great. In order to enforce the terms of a plan under Section 502, the participant must first qualify for the benefits provided in that plan. See 29 U.S.C. § 1132. Rather than concerning itself with these qualifications, one of the actions which Section 510 makes unlawful is the interference with a participant’s ability to meet these qualifications in the first instance.
*696
Tolle v. Carroll Touch, Inc.,
The live portion of appellant’s suit alleges only a violation of § 502(a)(1)(B). This statutory provision is designed to defend a person’s contractual entitlements to benefits. For the reasons stated in Part B, the Trustee has no rights under the Plan— nothing that belongs to appellаnt falls under the protective umbrella of § 502(a)(1)(B). Such a conclusion restricts the remedy for any remaining fiduciary violation to equitable relief.
Varity Corp. v. Howe,
We recognize the strong need for uniformity in federal common law generally and ERISA interpretation in particular,
see Metro. Life Ins. Co. v. Johnson,
Only the second allegation is potentially relevant here, because in form, it asserted a procedural violation of ERISA disclosure requirеments for conditions that a participant must satisfy to be eligible for benefits. See 29 U.S.C. § 1022(b); 29 C.F.R. § 2520.102-3(i) (2009); 29 C.F.R. § 2520.102-3(j)(l) (2009). The district court characterized this theory as a one articulating a breach of fiduciary duty colorable under § 502(a)(3) and thus ineligible for anything other than equitable relief. The Second Circuit disagreed, contrasting Strom v. Goldman, Sachs & Co. in the process:
The district court’s starting premise is correct: suits may be brought under § 502(a)(3) only for “those categories of relief that were typically available in equity,” Mertens v. Hewitt Assocs.,508 U.S. 248 , 256 [113 S.Ct. 2063 ,124 L.Ed.2d 161 ] (1993), and “classic compensatory ... damages are never included within” these categories, Gerosa [v. Savasta & Co., Inc.], 329 F.3d [317] at 321 [ (2d Cir.2003) ]. See also GreakWest [Life & Annuity Ins. Co. v. Knudson], 534 U.S. [204] at 210-11 [122 S.Ct. 708 ,151 L.Ed.2d 635 (2002) ]. We believe, however, that Wilkins’s claim may be understood not as a claim for equitable relief under § 502(a)(3), but as a claim to recover plan benefits under § 502(a)(1)(B). Accordingly, the limitations on the forms of relief available under § 502(a)(3) do not apply to his claim.
Wilkins, on the other hand, is, by hypothesis, entitled under the plan to the benefit hе seeks: a pension calculated on the basis of all his covered employment. (What level of benefits he is due — if any — is, of course, an analytically distinct (and fact-intensive) question that depends on the scale of the underreporting.) That he has also characterized the Fund’s alleged failure to produce a valid SPD as a breach of its duties as a fiduciary in no way forecloses his access to relief under § 502(a)(1)(B). And, as decisions of this court have made clear, “if a summary plan ‘is inadequate to inform an employee of his rights under the plan, ERISA empowers plan participants and beneficiaries to bring civil actions against plan fiduciaries for any damages that result from the failure to disclose’ under 29 U.S.C. § 1132(a)(1)(B).” Layaou [v. Xerox Corp.], 238 F.3d [205] at 212 [ (2d Cir. 2001) ]; see also Burke,336 F.3d at 114 *698 (holding that, where the plaintiff was likely prejudiced by a defective SPD, she was entitled to recover under § 502(a)(1)(B) the benefits she was due under the plan as construed in light of the SPD).
Appellants also make the argument that the district court erred in granting summary judgment in favor of defendantsappellees on the fiduciary duty issue because the Plan “did not address plaintiffs claim for the breach of the fiduciary duty of care in claims processing.” In doing so, the Trust argues, the Plan failed to meet its burden of identifying grounds on which summary judgment may be granted. As appellees point out, however, the Amended Complaint distinguished between a claim of a breach of fiduciary duty under ERISA § 502(a)(3)(B) and a claim for benefits under § 502(a)(1)(B). The latter survived a motion to dismiss; the former did not. The Trust acknowledges that “the breach of fiduciary duty claim under § 502(a)(3) of ERISA was eliminated by payment of the benefits to the surviving spouse.” As demonstrated above, § 502(a)(1)(B) does not amount to parallel grounds for relief on fiduciary duty grounds where a person is not already entitled to benefits. There were no procedural errors in the district court’s grant of summary judgment.
III. Conclusion
For the foregoing reasons, we Affirm the judgment of the district court.
Notes
. Appellant's original complaint states: “On March 7, 2005, Lisa Lehn and the decedent, Ronald Lehn, executed the attached Exhibit B.’’ Exhibit B is the GE Benefits Plans Beneficiary Designation form, which is dated “27 March 2005” next to Lehn's signature. This date comports with the one mentioned by Joyce Anderson, GE Benefits Counsel, in her December 5, 2006 letter. The district court referred to the document by the erroneous date introduced in the complaint, but we will rely on the actual marking for our shorthand. Curiously, elsewhere in their briefs, appellants describe the document as the "March 27, 2005 Designation оf Beneficiary Form.” The form is stamped "APR. 11, 2005.”
. Two typographical errors in the decision below threaten to muddle the issues on appeal, but go away with a glance at subsequent developments in the case. The district court order ruling on the motion to dismiss began by discussing plaintiff's claim for payment of benefits under 29 U.S.C. § 502(a)(1)(B) in a segment titled "Section 502(A)(1)(b) [sic].” It then reviewed our decision in
Butler v. Encyclopedia Brittanica,
Given the decision's context, nature of each cause of action, and the subsequent course of litigation, we read the July 31, 2008 order to have denied the motion to dismiss with respect to the § 502(a)(1)(B) claim for payment of benefits and granted it with respect to the § 502(a)(3) claim for equitable relief. This interpretation follows the form of the Trustee's November 30, 2007 Amended Complaint, which reads, in relevant part: "The Trustee brings this action under Section 502(a)(1)(B) of ERISA as a claim for the benefits the Trust is entitled to receive under the GE Benefits Program. 29 U.S.C. § 1132(a)(1)(B). Alternatively, she brings this action under Section 502(a)(3)(B) of ERISA seeking equitable relief for the GE Plan's breach of its fiduciary duty of care. 29 U.S.C. § 1132(a)(3)(B).” The reading we adopt also validates the posture of the district court’s subsequent ruling on defendants’ motion for summary judgment. In any event, in its Jurisdictional Statement and other parts of the brief, the Trust acknowledges that its § 502(a)(3) claim is no longer viable and that it is appealing only the judgment on its action under 29 U.S.C. § 1132(a)(1). PL Brief, at 41 ("On GE’s Rule 12(b)(6) motion to dismiss, plaintiff agreed the breach of fiduciary duty claim under Section 502(a)(3) of ERISA was eliminated by payment of the benefits to the surviving spouse.”).
. The updated variant of the regulation equates an administrator's failure to follow the regulatory timeline with respect to a claim to the claimant’s exhaustion of administrative remedies, instead of an outright denial. The maneuver still entitles the claimant to file suit in federal court under 29 U.S.C. § 1132(a). See 29 C.F.R. § 2560.503-1(0 (2009) ("In the cаse of the failure of a plan to establish or follow claims procedures consistent with the requirements of this section, a claimant shall be deemed to have exhausted the administrative remedies available under the plan and shall be entitled to pursue any available remedies under section 502(a) of the Act on the basis that the plan has failed to provide a reasonable claims procedure that would yield a decision on the merits of the claim.”).
. The
Butler
opinion characterized this result as an absence of “clear and convincing evidence” that the notarization was faulty.
. Though we do not reach the merits of the fiduciary claim in this appeal, we note that the Plan’s conduct would likely pass muster under any applicable standard. By invoking thе § 502(a)(3) remedy, appellant seeks to recharacterize its argument that the Plan acted arbitrarily and capriciously when it identified Lisa Lehn as the sole valid beneficiary of decedent's entitlement into a claim that the Plan did not act with the “care, skill, prudence, and diligence" required by 29 U.S.C. § 1104 in reaching this same decision. Both allegations arise from the same record, which, as we explained, contains no sign of faulty decisionmaking by the administrator. Since the Trustee has almost no evidence to back her position, even a rather drastic change in legal standard applicable to the case (from that of reasonableness to the " 'rigid level of conduct’ expected of fiduciaries,”
Varity,