Amato

MEMORANDUM

Larry Amato appeals the district court’s decision granting summary judgment in favor of the administrators of the Western Metal Industry Pension Plan (the “Plan”), an employee pension plan regulated by the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (“ERISA”), denying Amato disability retirement benefits. Because the parties are familiar with the facts, we do not recite them here. We have jurisdiction under 28 U.S.C. § 1131 (e), and we affirm.

Where an ERISA plan gives the administrator or fiduciary the discretionary authority to determine a participant’s eligibility for benefits and to construe the terms of the Plan, the courts review a denial of benefits for abuse of discretion. Firestone Tire and Rubber Co. v. Bruch, 489 U.S. 101, 115 , 109 S.Ct. 948 , 103 L.Ed.2d 80 (1989); see Bendixen v. Standard Ins. Co., 185 F.3d 939, 942 (9th Cir.1999). Our review thus considers whether the district court correctly applied the abuse of discretion standard to evaluate the Plan Trustees’ interpretation of Plan and, if so, whether the Trustees’ interpretation of the Plan language is reasonable.

The district court correctly applied Firestone in granting summary judgment…