Frye v. Thompson Steel Co., Inc.

Dist. Ct. erred in granting plaintiff's motion for summary judgment in ERISA action alleging that defendant-pension plan improperly denied plaintiff pension benefits where it offset said benefits by amounts plaintiff had previously received from his employer in settlement of two Ill. workers' compensation permanent partial disability claims. Defendant had discretion to interpret language of instant benefit plan, and said defendant could rationally find that plaintiff's permanent partial disability was subject to said offset. Fact that one interpretation of plan language might favor plaintiff's argument that offset did not apply does not require different result in light of discretion given to defendant to resolve any ambiguity in plan language, as well as plaintiff's failure to show any inconsistency in defendant's interpretation of said plan.