Held: ERISA does not authorize suits for money damages against nonfiduciaries who knowingly participate in a fiduciary's breach of fiduciary duty. ERISA § 502(a)(3) permits plan participants to bring civil actions to obtain "appropriate equitable relief" to redress violations of the statute or a plan. Assuming, arguendo, that this creates a cause of action against nonfiduciaries who knowingly assist in a fiduciary's breach of duty, requiring respondent to make the plan whole for the losses it sustained would not constitute "appropriate equitable relief." What petitioners in fact seek is the classic form of legal relief, compensatory damages. We have held that similar language used in another statute precludes awarding damages. See United States v. Burke, 504 U. S. 229, 238. And the text of ERISA leaves no doubt that Congress intended "equitable relief" to include only those types of relief that were typically available in equity, such as injunction, mandamus, and restitution. Given ERISA's roots in the law of trusts, "equitable relief" could in theory mean all relief available for breach of trust in the common-law courts of equity, which would include the relief sought here. Since all relief available for breach of trust could be obtained from an equity court, however, that interpretation would render the modifier "equitable" superfluous; that reading would also deprive of all meaning the distinction Congress drew between "equitable relief" and "remedial"
and "legal" relief throughout ERISA. ERISA § 502(l), which authorizes the Secretary of Labor to assess a civil penalty based on the monetary recovery in actions against "other person[s]" who knowingly participate in a breach of fiduciary duty, can be given meaningful content without adopting petitioners' theory. Pp. 251-263.
SCALIA, J., delivered the opinion of the Court, in which BLACKMUN, KENNEDY, SOUTER, and THOMAS, JJ., joined. WHITE, J., filed a dissenting opinion, in which REHNQUIST, C. J., and STEVENS and O'CONNOR, JJ., joined, post, p. 263.
Alfred H. Sigman argued the cause for petitioners. With him on the brief were Dan Feinberg, Jeffrey W Kobrick, and Joseph L. Kociubes.
*Steven S. Zaleznick and Cathy Ventrell-Monsees filed a brief for the American Association of Retired Persons as amicus curiae urging reversal.
Briefs of amici curiae urging affirmance were filed for the American Academy of Actuaries by Lauren M. Bloom; for the American Council of Life Insurance by James F. Jorden, Waldemar J. Pfiepsen, Jr., Stephen H. Goldberg, Richard E. Barnsback, Stephen W Kraus, and Phillip E. Stano; for the American Society of Pension Actuaries by Chester J. Salkind; and for Booke and Company et al. by Paul J. Ondrasik, Jr., Suzanne E. Meeker, and Ellen A. Hennessy.