Montanile v. Bd. of National Elevator Industry Health Benefit Plan
Decided January 20, 2016. Clarence Thomas delivered the opinion of the Court.
Docket 14-723 · 577 U.S. 136 (2016) · Cited 200 times
Holding
When an ERISA-plan participant wholly dissipates a third-party settlement on nontraceable items, the plan fduciary may not bring suit under § 502(a)(3) to attach the participant's separate assets.
The Court’s statement of the holding, from the opinion’s syllabus. The syllabus is prepared by the Reporter of Decisions and is not part of the opinion of the Court — read the official opinion for authority.
How the Justices voted
Decided 8–1.
Majority · 8
- Clarence Thomas · delivered the opinion of the Court
- Anthony McLeod Kennedy
- Antonin Scalia
- Elena Kagan
- John Glover Roberts Jr.
- Samuel A. Alito Jr.
- Sonia Sotomayor
- Stephen Gerald Breyer
Dissenting · 1
- Ruth Bader Ginsburg · filed a dissenting opinion
“Concurring” means agreeing with the outcome; any split shown is the Court’s judgment, not each Justice’s reasoning. Source: the Supreme Court Database (Spaeth et al.), Washington University.
Precedents cited
Supreme Court decisions this opinion relies on, ordered by how often it cites each. Cases in our collection link through; others are named.
- Sereboff v. Mid Atlantic Medical Services, Inc. · 547 U.S. 356 (2006)
- Great-West Life & Annuity Insurance v. Knudson · 534 U.S. 204 (2002)
- Mertens v. Hewitt Associates · 508 U.S. 248 (1993)
- U.S. Airways, Inc. v. McCutchen · 569 U.S. 88 (2013)
- CIGNA Corp. v. Amara · 563 U.S. 421 (2011)
- Barnes v. Alexander · 232 U.S. 117 (1914)
- United States v. Detroit Timber & Lumber Co. · 200 U.S. 321 (1906)
Cited by
Later Supreme Court opinions in our collection that cite this case.
- Liu v. SEC. & Exch. Comm'n · 591 U.S. 71 (2020)
Official text
Read the official opinion (U.S. Reports, govinfo.gov)
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Clarence Thomas’s profile · All Supreme Court opinions · The Supreme Court
Source: Supreme Court of the United States, slip opinions (2016). Citation count from the Free Law Project’s CourtListener bulk data. Data last verified 2026-07-03. Informational only; verify against the primary source before relying. Not a consumer report (FCRA).