Moore v. Metropolitan Life Insurance

WINTER, Circuit Judge:

Defendant-appellee Metropolitan Life Insurance Company (“Metropolitan”) maintains medical benefit plans for its employees under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (“ERISA”), 29 U.S.C. §§ 1001-1461 (1982). These plans contain provisions unambiguously reserving Metropolitan’s right to amend or terminate them. Pursuant to that reservation of rights, Metropolitan has amended the plan numerous times, usually augmenting benefits, but sometimes diminishing them. This appeal presents the question of whether Metropolitan may be barred from altering benefits under the…