Title 29, LaborRelease 119-102

§1109 Liability for Breach of Fiduciary Duty

Title 29 › CHAPTER 18 — EMPLOYEE RETIREMENT INCOME SECURITY PROGRAM › SUBCHAPTER I — PROTECTION OF EMPLOYEE BENEFIT RIGHTS › Subtitle B — Regulatory Provisions › part 4 — fiduciary responsibility › § 1109

Last updated Aug 21, 2026|Official source

Summary

A fiduciary (a person who manages a plan) must personally pay back any losses the plan has because of their bad acts or mistakes. They must also return any profits they made by using plan assets. A court can order other fixes, including removing the fiduciary. A fiduciary can also be removed for violating section 1111. No one is responsible for breaches that happened before they became, or after they stopped being, a fiduciary.

Full Legal Text

Title 29, §1109

Labor, Source: USLM XML via OLRC

(a)Any person who is a fiduciary with respect to a plan who breaches any of the responsibilities, obligations, or duties imposed upon fiduciaries by this subchapter shall be personally liable to make good to such plan any losses to the plan resulting from each such breach, and to restore to such plan any profits of such fiduciary which have been made through use of assets of the plan by the fiduciary, and shall be subject to such other equitable or remedial relief as the court may deem appropriate, including removal of such fiduciary. A fiduciary may also be removed for a violation of section 1111 of this title.

(b)No fiduciary shall be liable with respect to a breach of fiduciary duty under this subchapter if such breach was committed before he became a fiduciary or after he ceased to be a fiduciary.

Reference

Citations & Metadata

Citation

29 U.S.C. § 1109

Title 29, Labor

Last Updated

Aug 21, 2026

Release point: 119-102