Calvin R. Arnold v. Arrow Transportation Co. Of Delaware Arrow Transportation Co. Employees Retirement Plan

ORDER

The memorandum disposition filed October 3, 1990, is redesignated as an authored opinion by Judge Brunetti.

OPINION

Plaintiff-appellant Calvin Arnold (“Arnold”) sued his employer, defendant-appel-lee Arrow Transportation Co. (“Arrow”), and its retirement plan, defendant-appellee Retirement Plan for Employees of Arrow Transportation Co. (the “Retirement Plan”), alleging the improper denial of his pension benefits due under the Retirement Plan in violation of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (“ERISA”), 29 U.S.C. § 1132 (a)(1)(B). After a bench trial the district court ruled that appellees did not violate ERISA in reducing Arnold’s retirement benefits. We affirm.

A. Facts and Procedural Background

The facts of this case are undisputed. Arnold was an employee of Arrow, whose principal place of business is in Portland, for thirty-seven years. Arnold was elected to Arrow’s executive committee in 1970, made Vice President in 1976, and was covered under the Retirement Plan from 1963 until his voluntary retirement on March 1, 1985, one month short of his sixtieth birthday. The Retirement Plan was a qualified defined benefit plan, as defined by ERISA, 29 U.S.C.…