In the closing days of its most recent term, the U.S. Supreme Court issued
two decisions relating to the design and administration of employee
benefit plans. The first, Metropolitan Life Insurance Company v.
Glenn, addressed (without giving significant guidance) the question
of whether a conflict of interest exists when a plan administrator who
decides questions of eligibility for benefits is also the person
responsible for paying any benefit claims, and the effect of such a
conflict on a reviewing court’s analysis. The second, Kentucky
Retirement Systems v. EEOC, addressed the question of whether a
pension plan’s failure to increase benefits to disabled retirees once they
reach normal retirement age (but continue working) violates the Age
Discrimination in Employment Act.
