Mathews

At issue here is an alleged violation of section 404(a)(1) of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA), 29 U.S.C. § 1104 (a)(1), and the equitable relief awarded pursuant to ERISA section 502(a)(3), 29 U.S.C. § 1132 (a)(3). Chevron Corporation (Chevron) appeals from the injunction requiring it to modify its retirement plan records to reflect that six plaintiffs were involuntarily terminated by Chevron Product Company’s Richmond, California, Refinery (Richmond) and thus eligible for payment of a “Special Involuntary Termination Enhancement” (SITE) benefit. Eight plaintiffs who were denied relief — four pursuant to pre-trial summary judgment and four following trial — cross-appealed.

The district court’s jurisdiction was based on 29 U.S.C. § 1132 (e). We have jurisdiction over Chevron’s timely appeal and the timely cross-appeal pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1291 , and we affirm in part and reverse in part.

I.

As part of an effort to reduce the workforce of its subsidiaries, Chevron officially adopted SITE in an important company-wide “blue-top” announcement on February 23, 1999. SITE provided a benefit enhancement to any Chevron Corporation Retirement Plan participant…