Full opinion text
OPINION AND ORDER REGARDING CROSS-MOTIONS FOR SUMMARY JUDGMENT ROSEN, District Judge. I. INTRODUCTION On October 8, 1998, Plaintiff Douglas Monks commenced suit in this Court, alleging in his two-count Complaint that Defendant Keystone Powdered Metal Company failed to pay the full amount of benefits owed to him under the Group Pension Plan for Salaried Employees of Keystone Powdered Metal Company (the “Plan”), and that Defendant failed to provide a required notice of deferred pension benefits when Plaintiff reached his sixth-fifth birthday but continued to work for Defendant. This Court’s subject-matter jurisdiction is founded upon Plaintiffs federal claims brought under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (“ERISA”), 29 U.S.C. § 1001 et seq. By cross-motions filed in May of 1999, both parties now seek summary judgment. The parties have filed responses to these cross-motions, and Defendant filed a reply brief in further support of its motion. On December 21, 1999, this Court heard oral argument on both motions. Having reviewed the briefs and supporting materials submitted bY the parties, and having eon-sidered the arguments of counsel at the hearing, the Court is now prepared to rule on the parties’ motions. This Opinion and Order sets forth that ruling. Before turning to the merits of the parties’ motions, however, the Court first must address a procedural matter. Specifically, although both parties seek summary judgment in their respective motions, the Sixth Circuit recently held in Wilkins v. Baptist Healthcare Sys., Inc., 150 F.3d 609, 619 (6th Cir.1998), that summary judgment is not an appropriate mechanism for resolving ERISA claims for benefits. Count I of Plaintiffs Complaint seeks precisely such an award of benefits and, therefore, is not amenable to resolution through summary judgment. Rather, under the suggested guidelines set forth in Wilkins, this Court must conduct a review of the Plan administrator’s decision “based solely upon the administrative record,” and then “render findings of fact and conclusions of law accordingly.” 150 F.3d at 619. In contrast, Count II of Plaintiffs Complaint, though captioned “ERISA DENIAL OF BENEFITS,” does not involve the review of a decision to award or deny benefits, but rather an alleged failure to give proper notice of the deferred payment of those benefits. This Count appears amenable to resolution through summary judgment and, therefore, will be addressed in accordance with the standards of Fed. R.Civ.P. 56. II. FACTUAL BACKGROUND Plaintiff Douglas Monks was hired by Keystone Carbon Company, the predecessor to Defendant Keystone Powdered Metal Company, in April of 1964, and remained an employee of Defendant (or its predecessor) until his retirement in July of 1998. Plaintiff worked as a salesperson, selling powdered metal parts manufactured by Defendant to the automobile and appliance industries in southeastern Michigan. As an employee of Defendant, Plaintiff was at all times a participant in the Group Pension Plan for Salaried Employees of Keystone Powdered Metal Company (the “Plan”), or a similar plan offered by Defendant’s predecessor. The Plan is entirely funded through employer contributions, and is administered by a committee appointed by Defendant’s Board of Directors. Upon his retirement on July 1, 1998, Plaintiff began receiving pension benefits under the Plan. A dispute as to the proper amount of these pension benefits forms the basis for Count I of Plaintiffs Complaint. A. The Terms of the Pre-1989 Plan The Plan at issue in this case is a “defined benefit excess” plan. The Internal Revenue Code provides that a “defined benefit” plan is “any plan which is not a defined contribution plan,” 26 U.S.C. § 414(j), and the Code in turn defines a “defined contribution plan” as “a plan which provides for an individual account for each participant and for benefits based solely on the amount contributed to the participant’s account,” 26 U.S.C. § 414(i). In essence, then, a “defined benefit” plan is one in which the level of benefits is not linked to the amount of contributions, but instead is determined by using a formula. In this case, the level of benefits paid under the Plan is determined by a “unit credit” formula, which calculates benefits in accordance with the years of service as an employee by multiplying the years of service times a percentage of the employee’s average monthly earnings. (Plaintiffs Motion, Ex. 5, Plan at 18.) A plan is considered an “excess” plan if it computes benefits based on different percentages for earnings above and below an established “integration level,” such that the percentage used for earnings above the “integration level” is higher than the percentage used for earnings below that level. See 26 C.F.R. § 1 401(Z)-l(c)(16). The Plan in this case is an “excess” plan because, under the various formulas used to compute the level of pension benefits over the years, it used a lower percentage (ranging from 0.4% to 0.7%) for the first $600 of an employee’s average monthly earnings and a higher percentage (ranging from 1.35% to 1.6%) for monthly earnings in excess of $600. Prior to January 1, 1989, the formula used to compute the level of benefits paid under the Plan was as follows: (a) 0.4% of the employee’s Average Monthly Compensation up to $600, multiplied by years of Credited Service up to 25 years, plus (b) 1.6% of the employee’s Average Monthly Compensation in excess of $600, multiplied by years of Credited Service up to 25 years, plus (c) 0.5% of the employee’s Average Monthly Compensation, multiplied by years of Credited Service in excess of 25 years. (See Defendant’s Motion, Ex. B at 93, Summary Plan Description at 29.) Under this formula, the pre-1989 Plan was a true “excess” plan for the first 25 years of an employee’s service with Defendant, because a greater percentage (1.6%) was applied to earnings in excess of the $600 “integration level” than the percentage (0.4%) applied to earnings up to the integration level. However, the Plan ceased to be an “excess” plan once an employee achieved more than 25 years of service, as the same percentage (0.5%) would then apply to earnings above and below the integration level. B. Changes to the Plan in Light of the Tax Reform Act of 1986 The enactment of the Tax Reform Act of 1986 (“TRA”), Pub.L. No. 99-514,100 Stat. 2085 (1986), had significant implications to the Plan. Among other things, the TRA strengthened the existing “non-discrimination” rules set forth in the Internal Revenue Code (“IRC”), particularly at IRC § 401, 26 U.S.C. § 401. Under these amended rules, a pension plan such as Defendant’s Plan may retain its status as a tax-qualified trust only if it does not disproportionately benefit “highly compensated employees.” In addition, the TRA amended IRC § 401 by adding § 401(a)(17), 26 U.S.C. § 401(a)(17), which imposes a $150,000 limit on the amount of annual compensation that may be taken into account in computing benefits under a tax-qualified plan. Section 401(Z)(3) of the IRC, 26 U.S.C. § 401(0(3), sets forth the criteria that a defined benefit excess plan must satisfy to retain its tax-qualified status. These rules do not altogether prohibit qualified pláns from using a higher percentage to calculate benefits for earnings in excess of the “integration level,” but instead impose a cap, or “[p]ermitted disparity,” on the difference between the sub-integration and super-integration percentages used to compute benefits. See 26 U.S.C. § 401(i). Specifically, the maximum permitted disparity between the lower percentage used for earnings below the integration level and the higher percentage used for earnings above that level is now 0.75%, and this disparity itself may not exceed the percentage used to compute sub-integration-level benefits.- See 26 U.S.C. §§ 401(Z)(3)(A), 401(i )(4)(A); see also 26 C.F.R. § 1.401(Z )-3(b) (Department of Treasury regulations implementing these IRC provisions). As can be seen by reviewing the Plan formula set forth above, the pre-1989 Plan did not conform to these anti-discrimination rules. First, the difference between the sub-integration percentage of 0.4% and the super-integration percentage of 1.6% exceeded the maximum permitted disparity of 0.75%. Next, the disparity itself, 1.2%, exceeded the 0.4% figure used to compute benefits for earnings below the $600 integration level. Accordingly, Defendant amended its Plan in June 1993, retroactive to January 1, 1989, adopting the following formula for computing pension benefits: (a) 0.7% of the employee’s Average Monthly Compensation up to $600, multiplied by years of Credited Service up to 25 years, plus (b) 1.35% of the employee’s Average Monthly Compensation in excess of $600, multiplied by years of Credited Service up to 25 years, plus (c) 0.5% of the employee’s Average Monthly Compensation, multiplied by years of Credited Service in excess of 25 years. (See Plaintiffs Motion, Ex. 5, Plan at 18.) This modified formula alone, however, was not sufficient to bring Defendant’s Plan into compliance with the TRA. In particular, if Defendant were simply to apply this new formula in place of the old formula beginning on its effective date of January 1, 1989, the retirement benefits of its highly compensated employees would suffer an immediate reduction, in violation of an IRC provision prohibiting any plan amendment that operates to decrease the accrued benefits of participants. See 26 U.S.C. § 411(d)(6)(A). Moreover, although the TRA generally provided an effective date of January 1, 1989, for its various amendments, the implementing regulations to be issued by the Secretary of the Treasury, see 26 U.S.C. § 401(Z )(5)(F), were not in fact issued until 1991 or later. This placed plan sponsors in the awkward position of having to amend their plans to retain their tax-qualified status, yet facing the prospect that these amendments might violate other IRC provisions, while lacking any guidance from the Department of Treasury as to the proper means of addressing this predicament. To address these problems, the IRS issued a Notice on December 27, 1988, setting forth various “model amendments” that plan sponsors could adopt in the interim period before the implementing regulations were issued, in order to preserve their right to subsequently adopt retroactive plan amendments without violating the IRC. See Scott v. Administrative Comm. of the Allstate Agents Pension Plan, 113 F.3d 1193, 1195-96 (11th Cir.1997) (discussing this IRS Notice and its model amendments). In addition, the regulations ultimately issued by the Secretary of the Treasury included various “fresh-start” rules, under which plan sponsors could comply with the TRA on a going-forward basis without depriving plan participants of benefits accrued under a more favorable pre-TRA benefit formula. See 26 C.F.R. § 1.401(a)(4)-13(c) (setting forth the fresh-start rules and formulas applicable to defined benefit plans). These fresh-start rules, while complicated, generally provided three different methods for plan sponsors to complete their transitions from pre-TRA to post-TRA benefit formulas. First, the sponsor could apply a “fresh-start without wear-away” formula, under which the participants’ benefits are calculated by adding their accrued benefits under the pre-TRA formula for years of service through 1988 phis their benefits for post-1988 years of service computed under the post-TRA formula. See 26 C.F.R. § 1.401(a)(4)-13(c)(4)(i). Second, the sponsor could adopt a “fresh-start with wear-away” formula, under which a participant’s benefits are the greater of (1) his accrued benefits under the pre-TRA formula for years of service through 1988, or (2) his benefits for all years of service, both pre- and post-1988, computed under the post-TRA formula. See 26 C.F.R. § 1.401(a)(4)-13(c)(4)(ii). Third, the sponsor could select a “fresh-start with extended wear-away” formula, under which a participant’s benefits would be determined through use of either the first (“fresh-start without wear-away”) or the second (“fresh-start with wear-away”) formula, whichever produced the greater benefits. See 26 C.F.R. § 1.401(a)(4) — 13(c)(4)(iii). Defendant amended the Plan in 1993 to implement the third of these “fresh-start” rules — ie., the “fresh-start with extended wear-away” formula' — which, in turn, incorporates both the “fresh-start without wear-away” and “fresh-start with wear-away” formulas, applying the formula that produces the greater benefit for each individual Plan participant. The parties agree that Plaintiff receives a greater benefit using the “fresh-start without wear-away” formula, set forth in the Plan as follows: the Employee’s benefit as of the end of the 1988 Plan Year calculated using the Employee’s Average Monthly Compensation Part A [ie., average monthly compensation determined as of December 31, 1988], Credited Service and benefit formula in effect as of December 31, 1988 [ie., the pre-TRA formula] plus the Employee’s benefit for Plan years beginning on or after January 1, 1989 and prior to January 1, 1994 using the Employee’s Credited Service for Plan Years on or after January 1, 1989 and prior to January 1, 1994, Average Monthly Compensation Part B-l [ie., average monthly compensation computed using 1989-93 earnings] and the benefit formula effective January 1, 1989 [ie., the post-TRA formula] plus the Employee’s benefit for Plan Years beginning on or after January 1, 1994 calculated using the Employee’s Average Monthly Compensation Part C [ie., average monthly compensation computed using posN1993 earnings], Credited Service on or after January 1, 1994 and benefit formula effective January 1, 1989 [i.e., the post-TRA formula] .... (Plaintiffs Motion, Ex. 5, Plan at 18.) This formula, while exceedingly complex to state, essentially computes benefits by adding the amount accrued prior to 1989 under the pre-TRA formula and the amount accrued in years 1989 and beyond under the post-TRA formula. As explained below, the crux of the parties’ dispute in this case involves the proper determination of the years of “Credited Service” when calculating benefits under the post-TRA formula. C. Defendant’s Calculation of Plaintiff’s Retirement Benefits under the Plan In September of 1990, Plaintiff asked Defendant to calculate the retirement benefits he was eligible to receive under the Plan. In response, on October 24, 1990, Defendant’s Director of Human Resources, William Reuscher, provided Plaintiff with two worksheets. The first computed Plaintiffs accrued benefits under the pre-TRA formula, calculated using Plaintiffs 25 years of service from 1964 through 1988, and showed the amount of these accrued monthly benefits as $4,547.71. (Defendant’s Motion, Ex. B at 107.) The second computed Plaintiffs benefits under the post-TRA formula, calculated using Plaintiffs 25 years of service from 1964 through 1988 plus eight additional years of service from 1989 through 1996, when Plaintiff would attain the Plan’s “normal retirement age” of 65. This second worksheet showed the amount of Plaintiffs monthly retirement benefits as $4,547.69, or slightly less than the amount ■ Plaintiff had already accrued by 1988 under the pre-TRA formula. (Id. at 108.) On June 25, 1997, Plaintiff again asked Defendant to calculate his retirement benefits, based on a projected retirement date of January 1,1998. On February 23,1998, Defendant responded to this request by letter from David A. Stocklas, manager of actuarial services for the Plan’s actuary, MMC & P. (Id. at 100-03.) This letter, along with an attached worksheet, computed Plaintiffs benefits under four different formulas: (1) $4,547.71 — benefits accrued through 1988 under pre-TRA formula (the same amount computed in response to Plaintiffs 1990 request); (2) $4,747.50 — benefits calculated entirely under post-TRA formula, using an average monthly compensation derived from Plaintiffs highest average monthly earnings over any consecutive 5-year period of his employment; (3) $4,586.99 — -benefits again calculated entirely under post-TRA formula, but broken down into two segments before and after December 31, 1993, with average monthly compensation for the first period derived from Plaintiffs highest average monthly earnings over any consecutive 5-year period prior to 12/31/93, and average monthly compensation for the latter period derived from Plaintiffs (higher) average monthly earnings since 1/1/94; and (4) $5,106.64 — benefits calculated under “fresh-start without wear-away” approach, adding Plaintiffs benefits accrued through 1988 under pre-TRA formula plus Plaintiffs benefits accrued from 1989 through 1997 under post-TRA formula. (Id. at 103.) Accordingly, this letter indicated that Plaintiffs projected monthly retirement benefit would be $5,106.64, based on a retirement date of December 31, 1997. On April 8, 1998, Plaintiff wrote to Defendant’s chief financial officer, C.J. Ko-govsek, who currently is responsible for administering the Plan. In this letter, Plaintiff objected to the calculation of benefits set forth in Defendant’s February 23, 1998 letter, arguing that Defendant had not properly determined the years of service to be used when applying the post-TBA formula. (Id. at 99.) Plaintiffs calculations apparently reflected that he was entitled to a retirement benefit in excess of $6,000 per month. Mr. Kogovsek responded to this letter on April 9, 1998, reiterating Defendant’s position that the calculations shown in the February 23 letter were correct. D. Plaintiff’s Retirement Plaintiff retired on July 1, 1998. When Defendant began to pay monthly retirement benefits in the amount set forth in its February 23 letter, rather than the amount calculated by Plaintiff, this lawsuit followed. In Count I of his Complaint, Plaintiff seeks the additional retirement benefits allegedly owed to him under his construction of the Plan’s post-TRA benefit formula. In Count II, Plaintiff alleges that Defendant failed to provide notice of its deferral of Plaintiffs retirement benefits — a notice purportedly required under ERISA and under the terms of the Plan— when Plaintiff continued to work beyond his normal retirement date of June 3,1996. III. ANALYSIS A. Plaintiffs Count I Claim for Additional Benefits 1. The Standard of Review Governing Plaintiffs Claim for Benefits Before turning to the merits of Plaintiffs claim for additional benefits under the Plan, the Court first must determine the standard of review governing its consideration of this claim. Not surprisingly, Plaintiff asserts that the Plan administrator’s determination of the amount of his retirement benefits should be reviewed de novo, while Defendant maintains that the less exacting “arbitrary and capricious” standard should apply. The Court finds that Defendant has the better of this argument. A participant or beneficiary of an ERISA plan may bring suit in federal district court to recover benefits allegedly due under the terms of the plan. 29 U.S.C. § 1132(a)(1)(B). Courts review such challenges to benefit determinations under the de novo standard, unless the benefit plan gives the plan administrator discretionary authority to determine eligibility for benefits or to construe the terms of the plan. In this latter case, the administrator’s benefit determination is reviewed under an “arbitrary and capricious” standard. Firestone Tire & Rubber Co. v. Bruch, 489 U.S. 101, 115, 109 S.Ct. 948, 956-57, 103 L.Ed.2d 80 (1989). The Plan in this case addresses the degree of the administrator’s discretion through the following language: 10.02 Duties.... The Administrator will resolve any factual dispute, giving due weight to all evidence available to it. The Administrator will interpret the Plan and determine all questions arising in the administration, interpretation and application of the Plan. All such determinations shall be final, conclusive and binding except to the extent that they are appealed under Article VIII. (Plaintiffs Motion, Ex. 5, Plan at 42.) This language suffices to confer upon the Plan administrator the discretionary authority to interpret the Plan. The Sixth Circuit has repeatedly held that discretionary authority to construe the terms of a plan triggers application of the “arbitrary and capricious” standard of review. See, e.g., Bagsby v. Central States, Southeast & Southwest Areas Pension Fund, 162 F.3d 424, 428 (6th Cir.1998); Smith v. Ameritech, 129 F.3d 857, 863 (6th Cir.1997). This is true even where, as here, the Plan does not use the word “discretion” or other such “magic words” in conferring powers upon the administrator. See Administrative Comm, of the Sea Ray Employees’ Stock Ownership & Profit Sharing Plan v. Robinson, 164 F.3d 981, 986 (6th Cir.1999); Perez v. Aetna Life Ins. Co., 150 F.3d 550, 555 (6th Cir.1998). In light of the above-quoted language giving the Plan administrator the unqualified authority to “interpret the Plan,” and in light of the additional language confirming that such determinations are “final, conclusive and binding,” the Court concludes that the Plan administrator has discretionary authority to construe the terms of the Plan. Plaintiff does not deny that this language, viewed in isolation, confers such discretionary authority upon the administrator. Nevertheless, Plaintiff contends that this authority is tempered by the language that follows, providing that the administrator’s determinations are “final, conclusive and binding except to the extent that they are appealed.” Plaintiff notes that he has indeed appealed the administrator’s decision, and reasons that this lack of finality of a challenged decision overcomes the administrator’s discretionary authority to make this non-final determination. Plaintiff, however, has identified no case law in support of his position, and this Court’s research likewise has failed to disclose any such cases. This is hardly surprising, when one considers the broad reach of Plaintiffs argument. Plaintiffs position, if accepted, would mean that plan administrators never have discretionary authority in cases brought before the federal courts because, in all such cases, the administrator’s decision is susceptible to reversal, and hence is not “final, conclusive and binding.” Simply stated, the mere fact that an administrator’s decision is subject to review, modification, and perhaps reversal on appeal to the District Court says nothing about the discretion given to the administrator to make that decision in the first instance. Next, Plaintiff contends that the Plan administrator’s discretionary authority does not extend to the situation presented in this ease, where the administrator’s interpretation of the Plan allegedly amounts to an amendment of the Plan. Where, in Plaintiffs view, the Plan administrator clearly has exceeded his authority by effectively modifying the terms of the Plan, Plaintiff asserts that a de novo standard should apply. Plaintiffs reasoning, however, is wholly circular, and would render impossible any determination of the proper standard of review. In essence, the proposition advanced by Plaintiff, if accepted, would require the Court first to determine whether the administrator’s interpretation of the Plan is tantamount to amending the Plan, and then, depending on the answer to this question, to apply either a de novo or arbitrary and capricious standard of review. This approach begs the question of which standard should govern the first part of this inquiry. In addition, this approach is directly contrary to the teachings of Firestone and the relevant Sixth Circuit precedents: namely, that the standard of review should be determined solely by reference to the terms of the Plan itself, see, e.g., Bagsby, supra, 162 F.3d at 428, and not through a result-driven inquiry into the facial “soundness” of the administrator’s decision or the plan participant’s challenge to that decision. Accordingly, the Court concludes that the “arbitrary and capricious” standard governs its review of the challenged decision. Under this “least demanding form of judicial review,” Robinson, 164 F.3d at 989, the Court must uphold a benefit determination if it is “rational in light of the plan’s provisions.” Yeager v. Reliance Standard Life Ins. Co., 88 F.3d 376, 381 (6th Cir.1996) (internal quotations and citations omitted). Stated differently, “[w]hen it is possible to offer a reasoned explanation, based on the evidence, for a particular outcome, that outcome is not arbitrary or capricious.” Davis v. Kentucky Finance Cos. Retirement Plan, 887 F.2d 689, 693 (6th Cir.1989) (internal quotations and citations omitted), cert. denied, 495 U.S. 905, 110 S.Ct. 1924, 109 L.Ed.2d 288 (1990). As Plaintiff correctly points out, however, this Court’s generally deferential review of the benefit determination at issue here is tempered by two principles. First, because the Plan is funded solely by Defendant, and is administered by a committee appointed by Defendant’s Board of Directors, Defendant plainly has a financial incentive to construe the Plan as requiring payment of less rather than more benefits. The “possible conflict of interest” inherent in this situation “should be taken into account as a factor in determining whether the [administrator’s] decision was arbitrary and capricious.” Davis, 887 F.2d at 694; see also Cochran v. Trans-General Life Ins. Co., 60 F.Supp.2d 693, 698-99 (E.D.Mich.1999) (emphasizing that the existence of a possible conflict of interest does not require application of the de novo standard, but must be weighed as a factor in applying the “arbitrary and capricious” standard). Next, to the extent that the Plan’s language is ambiguous, this Court should apply the “rule of contra proferen-tum ” and construe such ambiguities against Defendant as the drafting party. Perez, supra, 150 F.3d at 557 n. 7. The Court will apply these standards in reviewing the administrator’s determination of Plaintiffs retirement benefits under the Plan. 2. The Challenged Benefit Determination Is Neither Arbitrary Nor Capricious. Turning to the merits of Count I of the Complaint, Plaintiff alleges that the Plan administrator incorrectly applied the post-TRA formula set forth above in determining the amount of his retirement benefits. In essence, Plaintiff contends that Defendant erroneously counted all of his post-1988 years of service as “years of Credited Service in excess of twenty-five (25) years” under the third portion of the post-TRA formula, rather than treating the years 1989-1993 as years zero through five for purposes of the 1989-93 transitional formula, and again treating the years 1994-1998 as years zero through five for purposes of the new formula governing years 1994 and beyond. Upon reviewing the relevant Plan language, however, the Court finds that Defendant’s interpretation is eminently rational and reasonable. The parties’ dispute turns entirely on the proper application of the post-TRA formula, which reads in full: k-01 Accrued Benefit Formula. Subject to the provisions of Sections 4.05 and 4.06, the amount of Monthly Retirement Income payable under the Plan in the Basic Form commencing on the Participant’s Normal Retirement Date shall be the sum of the amounts set forth in subsections (a), (b) and (c) below: (a) Seven tenths of one percent (.7%) of the first six hundred dollars ($600) of the Participant’s Average Monthly Compensation multiplied by his years of Credited Service (not to exceed twenty-five (25) years); plus (b) One and thirty-five hundredths of one percent (1.35%) of the Participant’s Average Monthly Compensation in excess of six hundred dollars ($600) multiplied by his years of Credited Service (not to exceed twenty-five (25) years); plus (c) One-half of one percent (.5%) of the Participant’s Average Monthly Compensation multiplied by his years of Credited Service in excess of twenty-five (25) years. (Plaintiffs Motion, Ex. 5, Plan at 18.) All would presumably agree that this formula, if applied in isolation, would compute Plaintiffs monthly retirement benefit using the sub-integration (0.7%) and super-integration (1.35%) percentages for his first 25 years of service, and using the flat rate of 0.5% for all years in excess of 25. Because Plaintiff attained 25 years of service in 1988, this formula would cease to be “excess” for Plaintiffs years of service in 1989 and beyond, and would increase his monthly retirement benefit only by 0.5% of his average monthly earnings for each year he worked after 1988. The difficulty comes, however, when this fairly straightforward formula is applied in combination with the “fresh-start” rules adopted to carry out the transition from the pre-TRA to the post-TRA formula without decreasing the accrued benefits of Plan participants. The relevant “fresh-start” rule used to determine Plaintiffs benefits was set forth above, but is reproduced again here for convenience: Effective December 31, 1993, in calculating the Accrued Benefit for a Participant who is subject to the limitation contained in Code Section 401(a)(17) under Section 4.01 of this Plan [ie., highly compensated employees such as Plaintiff], the Average Monthly Compensation used in calculating the Monthly Retirement Income shall be calculated in accordance with (i), (ii) or (iii) below, whichever provides the greatest benefit: (i) the Employee’s benefit as of the end of the 1988 Plan Year calculated using the Employee’s Average Monthly Compensation Part A [ie., average monthly compensation determined as of December 31, 1988], Credited Service and benefit formula in effect as of December 31, 1988 [ie., the pre-TRA formula] plus the Employee’s benefit for Plan years beginning on or after January 1, 1989 and prior to January 1, 1994 using the Employee’s Credited Service for Plan Years on or after January 1, 1989 and prior to January 1, 1994, Average Monthly Compensation Part B-l [ie., average monthly compensation computed using 1989-93 earnings] and the benefit formula effective January 1, 1989 [ie., the post-TRA formula] plus the Employee’s benefit for Plan Years beginning on or after January 1,1994 calculated using the Employee’s Average Monthly Compensation Part C [ie., average monthly compensation computed using post-1993 earnings], Credited Service on or after January 1, 1994 and benefit formula effective January 1, 1989 [ie., the post-TRA formula] .... (Plaintiffs Motion, Ex. 5, Plan at 18.) The first part of this fresh-start rule is straightforward, calling for computation of a portion of Plaintiffs retirement benefit based on his first 25 years of service from 1964 through 1988, and using the pre-TRA formula. Plaintiff does not challenge this portion of Defendant’s benefit determination. The crux of the dispute in this case involves the next two steps in the calculation. First, having computed a participant’s benefit through 1988 using the pre-TRA formula, the fresh-start rule calls for the addition of “the Employee’s benefit for Plan years beginning on or after January 1, 1989 and prior to January 1, 1994 using the Employee’s Credited Service for Plan Years on or after January 1, 1989 and prior to January 1,1994, Average Monthly Compensation Part B-l [ie., average monthly compensation computed using 1989-93 earnings] and the benefit formula effective January 1, 1989 [ie., the post-TRA formula].” In its computation of this portion of Plaintiffs retirement benefit, Defendant set the “years of Credited Service” in parts (a) and (b) of the post-TRA formula at zero (0), and the “years of Credited Service in excess of twenty-five (25) years” in part (c) of the post-TRA formula at five (5). Defendant reasoned that Plaintiff had already attained 25 years of service before 1989, so that all of his “Credited Service for Plan Years on or after January 1, 1989 and prior to January 1, 1994,” as stated in the fresh-start rule, involved “years of Credited Service in excess of twenty-five (25) years” within the meaning of part (c) of the post-TRA formula. Because Plaintiffs five years of service between 1989 and 1993 were his 26th through 30th years of overall service, Defendant determined that all of these years of service were in excess of 25 years of service, and thus were governed by part (c) of the benefit formula. Under Defendant’s interpretation, therefore, each year of Plaintiffs service between 1989 and 1993 increased his monthly benefit by only 0.5% of his average monthly compensation during that 1989-93 period. In contrast, Plaintiff contends that his benefit accrual during this 1989-93 period should be determined by setting the “years of Credited Service” in parts (a) and (b) of the post-TRA formula at five (5), and the “years of Credited Service in excess of twenty-five (25) years” in part (c) of the formula at zero (0). Plaintiff reasons that, under the plain language of the fresh-start rule, he had five years of “Credited Service for Plan Years on or after January 1, 1989 and prior to January 1,1994,” regardless of how many years of credited service he might have achieved before January 1, 1989. Because these five post-1988 years are not “in excess of twenty-five (25) years” within the meaning of part (c) of the formula, but instead are years zero through five of Plaintiffs service between 1989 and 1993, Plaintiff argues that the excess (0.7%/1.35%) portion of the post-TRA formula should apply to these years, and not the flat-rate (0.5%) portion of that formula. Under this construction, Plaintiffs monthly retirement benefit would continue to increase during his 1989-93 years of service by 0.7% of the sub-integration amount of his average monthly earnings during this period, plus 1.35% of the super-integration amount of his average monthly earnings for 1989-93. The parties offer similarly divergent interpretations of the final portion of the fresh-start rule, under which benefits are computed for years of service 1994 and beyond. Defendant argues that Plaintiff completed his 31st through 35th years of service from 1994 until his retirement in 1998, and that part (c) of the post-TRA formula continues to govern these additional years of service in excess of 25 years. For his part, Plaintiff argues that his years of service from 1994 through 1998 were years zero through five of his “Credited Service on or after January 1, 1994” under the fresh-start rule, and that parts (a) and (b) of the post-TRA formula continue to govern these years. Although Plaintiffs proposed construction is not wholly without support in the literal (and somewhat abstruse) language of the fresh-start rule, the Court concludes that Defendant’s interpretation is the more plausible one and, in any event, is sufficiently rational to satisfy the lenient “arbitrary and capricious” standard of review. The Plan defines “Credited Service” as “the total number of calendar years for which a Participant is given credit in calculating Monthly Retirement Income or Death Benefits,” and further provides that “Credited Service shall be credited in the aggregate as of any date of determination.” (Plaintiffs Motion, Ex. 5, Plan at 8 (emphasis added).) This definition certainly suggests that the years of Credited Service as referenced in the post-TRA formula should be determined “in the aggregate” as the “total number of calendar years” worked by Plaintiff, and not determined solely by reference to the number of years worked between 1989-93 or between 1994-98. Moreover, even the fresh-start language cited by Plaintiff — i a, the references to “Credited Service for Plan Years on or after January 1, 1989 and prior to January 1, 1994,” and to “Credited Service on or after January 1, 1994” — does not ineluctably lead to the result advocated by Plaintiff. A fair reading of this language, as applied to Plaintiffs particular circumstances, could rationally lead to the conclusions that Plaintiffs “Credited Service” for the 1989-93 plan years encompassed his 26th through 30th years of service, and that his “Credited Service on or after January 1, 1994” encompassed his 31st through 35th years of service. Applying each of these 26th through 35th years of service to the post-TRA formula, each year falls within part (c) of the formula as a year of service “in excess of twenty-five (25) years.” Each of these years, therefore, increases Plaintiffs monthly benefit by 0.5% of his average monthly compensation, as computed by reference to the relevant 1989-93 or post-1993 period. As this would be the undeniable result if the Plan’s calculation of benefits were not broken into three segments (pre-1989, 1989-93, and posW.993), it is not clear why the same formula should necessarily produce a different result simply because it is applied cumulatively to separate portions of Plaintiffs total 35 years of service. Plaintiff argues, however, that Defendant’s interpretation is untenable because it improperly “transforms” his five years of service between 1989-93 into zero years of service, and also “transforms” his five years of service between 1994-98 into zero years of service. This simply is not the case. All are agreed that Plaintiff did in fact attain five years of service between 1989 and 1993, and five more years of service between 1994 and 1998. The only question is whether these were all years “in excess of 25 years,” as Defendant contends, or years zero through five of the relevant time period, as Plaintiff maintains. The Court finds nothing irrational in Defendant’s position that the years of service should not be reset to zero when computing each separate component of Plaintiffs benefit under the fresh-start rule. Admittedly, the three-part formula used to compute Plaintiffs benefits is complex, and perhaps could have been worded more clearly. Yet, Plaintiff apparently does not dispute that this tripartite scheme is intended, and indeed necessary, to make the transition from the pre-TRA to the post-TRA formula, while ensuring that the vested benefits of pre-1989 employees are preserved, and also ensuring that the Plan complies with the Department of Treasury’s “fresh-start” rules during the transitional period from the old to the new formula. Given these disparate purposes, it is not enough for Plaintiff to point to the complexity of the formula as proof of its purported ambiguity and support for his alternate construction. Rather, “[t]he mere fact that language could have been clearer does not necessarily mean that it is not clear enough” to sustain Defendant’s interpretation under the deferential “arbitrary and capricious” standard of review. Yeager v. Reliance Standard Life Ins. Co., 88 F.3d 376, 381 (6th Cir.1996). Moreover, various traditional rules of contract construction support Defendant’s position. First, it is well established that “each provision of a contract should be interpreted as part of an integrated whole, to the end that all of the provisions may be given effect if possible.” Musto v. American Gen. Corp., 861 F.2d 897, 906 (6th Cir.1988). Plaintiffs interpretation, if accepted, would render part (c) of the post-TRA formula inapplicable to any employee when computing benefits for the years 1989-93, because no employee could possibly attain more than five years of service during that period alone. Similarly, Plaintiffs proposed construction does not easily harmonize with the Plan definition of “Credited Service” as the total number of calendar years worked, to be determined “in the aggregate as of any date of determination.” Rather, the approach advocated by Plaintiff would partition an employee’s years of credited service into the three distinct periods of pre-1989, 1989 through 1993, and 1994 and beyond. Next, a contract should not be construed in such a way that it calls for an illegal result or runs counter to the law. Cf. Kaiser Steel Corp. v. Mullins, 455 U.S. 72, 77, 102 S.Ct. 851, 856, 70 L.Ed.2d 833 (1982) (“There is no statutory code of federal contract law, but our cases leave no doubt that illegal promises will not be enforced in cases controlled by the federal law.”). Plaintiffs proposed construction of the Plan would run afoul of this principle in several respects. First, the Treasury regulations implementing the TRA provide that any disparity permitted under a defined benefit excess plan must be “uniform,” and further state that “[t]he disparity provided under a defined benefit excess plan is uniform only if the plan uses the same base benefit percentage and the same excess benefit percentage for all employees with the same number of years of service.” 26 C.F.R. § 1.4010 )-3(c)(l). As Defendant points out, the interpretation advanced by Plaintiff seemingly would fail to produce a “uniform disparity,” as it would favor an employee who acquired years of service prior to the “fresh-start” date of January 1, 1989 over an employee who began working for Defendant in 1989 or later, even where those employees might have the same overall years of service. To see why this is so, consider an employee who, like Plaintiff, began working for Defendant prior to 1989. Under Plaintiffs interpretation of the Plan, this employee would enjoy more than 25 years of benefits computed under the advantageous “excess” formula, because his years of service prior to 1989 would not count toward his “years of Credited Service in excess of twenty-five (25) years” under part (c) of the post-TRA formula. In contrast, an employee who began working for Defendant in 1994 or thereafter would enjoy only 25 years of benefits computed under the “excess” formula, and then would accrue additional benefits only under the more modest 0.5% flat-rate provision at part (c) of the post-TRA formula. Thus, two employees with the same total number of years of service would accrue different amounts of benefits under different portions of the post-TRA formula, in apparent violation of the “uniform disparity” requirement. The interpretation advanced by Plaintiff also would exacerbate the Plan’s existing violation of the maximum total disparity limit set forth at IRC § 4010 )(4)(A)(ii), 26 U.S.C. § 4010 )(4)(A)(ii). As discussed earlier, the TRA prohibits disparities of more than 0.75% between the percentage applied to sub-integration earnings and the “excess” percentage applied to earnings above the integration level. See 26 U.S.C. § 4010 )(4)(A)(i). The TRA also establishes a “lifetime” maximum disparity, or “maximum excess allowance,” providing that the annual disparities accumulated over all years of service, not to exceed 35, may not exceed 0.75% times the years of service. 26 U.S.C. § 401(i )(4)(A)(ii). Thus, for an employee such as Plaintiff with 35 years of service, the lifetime “excess allowance” may not exceed 35 times 0.75%, or 26.25 percent. Over his first 25 years of service through 1988, Plaintiffs “excess allowance” was 25 years times 1.2% per year (the disparity under the pre-TRA formula), or 30 percent. Thus, he had already exceeded the maximum “excess allowance” now permitted under the TRA. Yet, under his interpretation of the Plan, he would be permitted to continue increasing his excess allowance throughout the ten years until his retirement in 1998 (and beyond, if he had continued working). Specifically, if, as Plaintiff contends, he maintained his eligibility for “excess” benefits throughout this ten-year period, his 30% excess allowance in 1988 would have grown to 36.5% by 1998, as the post-TRA formula establishes a 0.65% disparity between the sub-integration and super-integration percentages. Thus, Plaintiffs proposed interpretation would bring the Plan farther out of compliance with the TRA with respect to pre-TRA employees such as Plaintiff. Finally, in considering whether Defendant’s benefit determination is arbitrary and capricious, the Court should not disregard one of the principal purposes of the TRA — namely, “to eliminate perceived discrimination in favor of highly compensated employees.” Scott, supra, 113 F.3d at 1195. The “fresh-start” rules were issued by the Department of Treasury, and presumably incorporated into the Plan, to ensure a transition that would advance this anti-discriminatory purpose while preserving vested interests. The Plan interpretation adopted by Defendant achieves both of these goals by phasing in the post-TRA formula while preserving Plaintiffs accrued pre-TRA benefits — and, in fact, allowing those monthly benefits to continue to accrue, growing from $4,547.71 in 1988 to $5,169.98 upon his retirement in 1998. Indeed, by virtue of the Plan’s preservation of pre-TRA accruals, Plaintiff retains the full benefit of 25 years of pension calculations under the pre-TRA formula, with its disparity significantly in excess of the disparity now permitted under the TRA. In contrast, the interpretation favored by Plaintiff would perpetuate his accumulation of benefits under the “excess” formula, even beyond the 25-year period permitted under the pre-TRA formula. This goes beyond mere “grandfathering,” and instead seeks to enhance Plaintiffs benefits as a highly compensated employee following the enactment of the TRA. As Plaintiff correctly observes, such considerations of “purpose” or “intent” would be inappropriate and irrelevant if the plain language of the Plan required a different result. However, as discussed above, the Court does not so construe the disputed language. Rather, having navigated through the largely uncharted and sometimes murky waters of interpreting pre- and post-TRA formulas and “fresh start” rules, as well as considering IRC § 401 and the often cumbersome Treasury regulations, the Court finds Defendant’s interpretation eminently rational as a matter of contract construction. The Court merely observes, in addition, that this result finds further support in the purposes behind the TRA. Finally, the Court must consider whether Defendant’s conflict of interest as the sole source of Plan funding and as Plan administrator provides any basis for setting aside the challenged benefit determination. Having reviewed the evidentiary record produced by the parties, the Court finds that it does not. There is simply nothing in this record to. suggest that Defendant’s decision was motivated or influenced by its financial interest in minimizing Plan payouts, beyond the brute fact that Defendant does indeed have such a financial stake in benefit determinations. To overturn the decision here based solely on the presence of such a financial stake in the outcome would be tantamount to adopting a per se rule of reversal in cases involving conflicts of interest. In this Court’s view, the case law does not permit such a result. See, e.g., Peruzzi v. Summa Medical Plan, 137 F.3d 431, 433 (6th Cir.1998) (upholding a denial of benefits by an administrative appeal board that included the chief operating officer and two vice presidents of the defendant plan administrator, SummaCare, where there was no “other specific evidence tending to show that SummaCare was motivated by cost”). Compare Killian v. Healthsource Provident Administrators, Inc., 152 F.3d 514, 521 (6th Cir.1998) (citing the defendant’s conflict of interest as additional evidence of its arbitrary and capricious denial of benefits, where there were “procedural peculiarities” in the defendant’s review of the plaintiffs claim). For all of these reasons, the Court concludes that Defendant’s benefit determination survives review under the arbitrary and capricious standard. B. Plaintiffs Count II Claim of Lack of Notice In Count II of his Complaint, Plaintiff alleges that Defendant violated ERISA and the terms of the Plan by failing to provide notice of its deferral of Plaintiffs retirement benefits when Plaintiff reached the normal retirement age of 65 but continued to work. Both parties have moved for summary judgment on this Count, agreeing that there are no disputed issues of material fact, but disagreeing as to the governing law. 1. The Standards Governing the Parties’ Cross-Motions The parties both seek summary judgment in their favor pursuant to Fed. R.Civ.P. 56. Under this Rule, summary judgment is proper “ ‘if the pleadings, depositions, answers to interrogatories, and admissions on file, together with the affidavits, if any, show that there is no genuine issue as to any material fact and that the moving party is entitled to judgment as a matter of law.’ ” Fed.R.Civ.P. 56(c). Three 1986 Supreme Court cases — Matsushita Electrical Industrial Co. v. Zenith Radio Corp., 475 U.S. 574, 106 S.Ct. 1348, 89 L.Ed.2d 538 (1986), Anderson v. Liberty Lobby, Inc., 477 U.S. 242, 106 S.Ct. 2505, 91 L.Ed.2d 202 (1986), and Celotex Corp. v. Catrett, 477 U.S. 317, 106 S.Ct. 2548, 91 L.Ed.2d 265 (1986) — ushered in a “new era” in the federal courts’ review of motions for summary judgment. These cases, in the aggregate, lowered the mov-ant’s burden in seeking summary judgment. According to the Celotex Court: In our view, the plain language of Rule 56(c) mandates the entry of summary judgment, after adequate time for discovery and upon motion, against a party who fails to make a showing sufficient to establish the existence of an element essential to that party’s case, and on which that party will bear the burden of proof. Celotex, 477 U.S. at 322, 106 S.Ct. 2548. After reviewing the above trilogy of cases, the Sixth Circuit adopted a series of principles governing motions for summary judgment. These principles include: * The movant must meet the initial burden of showing “the absence of a genuine issue of material fact” as to an essential element of the non-movant’s case. This burden may be met by pointing out to the court that the respondent, having had sufficient opportunity for discovery, has no evidence to support an essential element of his or her case. * The respondent cannot rely on the hope that the trier of fact will disbelieve the movant’s denial of a disputed fact, but must “present affirmative evidence in order to defeat a properly supported motion for summary judgment.” * The trial court no longer has the duty to search the entire record to establish that it is bereft of a genuine issue of material fact. * The trial court has more discretion than in the “old era” in evaluating the respondent’s evidence. The respondent must “do more than simply show that there is some metaphysical doubt as to the material facts.” Further, “[wjhere the record taken as a whole could not lead a rational trier of fact to find” for the respondent, the motion should be granted. The trial court has at least some discretion to determine whether the respondent’s claim is plausible. Street v. J.C. Bradford & Co., 886 F.2d 1472, 1479-80 (6th Cir.1989); see also Nemberg v. Pearce, 35 F.3d 247, 249 (6th Cir.1994). The Court will apply these standards in considering the parties’ cross-motions for summary judgment on Count II of the Complaint. 2. Although Defendant Failed to Provide Proper Notice under the Plan, This Failure Does Not Entitle Plaintiff to the Remedy He Seeks. The Plan provides for a “Normal Retirement Age” of 65. (Plaintiffs Motion, Ex. 5, Plan at 12.) Plaintiff attained the age of 65 on June 3,1996. If Plaintiff had chosen to retire that day, he would have begun receiving monthly retirement benefit payments under the Plan, calculated as of his normal retirement date. (Id. at 20.) Plaintiff, however, did not retire in June of 1996, but continued to work for Defendant for two more years. Accordingly, under the express terms of the Plan, Plaintiff did not begin to receive benefits until he actually retired in July of 1998, at the age of 67. (See id. at 12 (specifying that a retiree’s monthly retirement income “shall commence as of the Retired Participant’s Retirement Date”); id. at 20 (stating that upon late retirement, the retiree’s accrued benefit will “commenc[ej on said Participant’s Late Retirement Date”).) While Plaintiff continued working, his monthly retirement benefit continued to increase, in accordance with part (c) of the post-TRA formula, at a rate of 0.5% of Plaintiffs average monthly earnings for each of his two additional years of service. It is undisputed that Defendant provided no express written notice in June of 1996 that Plaintiffs retirement benefits would not commence until he actually retired. Plaintiff contends that Defendant was required to do so, under both ERISA and the terms of the Plan. The Plan does indeed call for such notice, in section 4.09: i.09 Suspension of Benefits. (a) Working Past Attained Age Sixty-Five. (i) A Participant who remains employed by the Employer after his Normal Retirement Date and who is expected to be credited with at least forty (40) Hours of Service each month will have a Late Retirement Date on the first day of the month coincident with or next following actual termination of employment with the Employer.... The Administrator shall notify such Participant that Monthly Retirement Income will not commence until his Late Retirement Date and that the Monthly Retirement Income will be equal to that amount determined pursuant to Section 4.03.... (Id. at 25 (emphasis added).) Defendant does not (and cannot) dispute that the Plan administrator failed to comply with this provision. Plaintiffs claim of an ERISA violation rests upon § 208(a)(3)(B) of ERISA, which provides: A right to an accrued benefit derived from employer contributions shall not be treated as forfeitable solely because the plan provides that the payment of benefits is suspended for such period as the employee is employed, subsequent to the commencement of payment of such benefits. 29 U.S.C. § 1053(a)(3)(B); see also 26 U.S.C. § 411(a)(3)(B) (incorporating the identical provision as part of the IRC). This provision further states that “[t]he Secretary [of Labor] shall prescribe such regulations as may be necessary to carry out the purposes of this subparagraph.” Id. The plain language of this provision makes no mention of notice. Moreover, as Defendant points out, § 203(a)(3)(B) on its face seems inapplicable to the present situation, where payment of Plaintiffs benefits had not “commence[d]” as of his normal retirement date, where payments were not “suspended” on that date, and where Plaintiffs benefits were not “treated as forfeitable,” but instead continued to accrue as he continued working and were paid out in full upon his actual retirement. Nevertheless, as Defendant concedes, the implementing regulation issued by the Department of Labor (“DOL”) calls for notice of withheld pension benefits where the employee continues to work past his normal retirement age. In particular, this regulation establishes a “suspendable amount,” above which the employer may not “permanently] withhold[]” the payment of accrued pension benefits during periods of “section 203(a)(3)(B) service.” 29 C.F.R. § 2530.203-3(b)(1). The regulation then defines “section 202(a)(3)(B) service” as any period of service “subsequent to the time the payment of benefits commenced or would have commenced if the employee had not remained in or returned to employment.” Id. § 2530.203-3(c)(1) (emphasis added). Taken together, these provisions apparently authorized Defendant to withhold Plaintiffs retirement benefits while he continued to work past age 65. However, the regulation further required notice of this withholding: (4) Notification. No payment shall be withheld by a plan pursuant to this section unless the plan notifies the employee by personal delivery or first class mail during the first calendar month or payroll period in which the plan withholds payments that his benefits are suspended. 29 C.F.R. § 2530.203-3(b)(4). Again, assuming this regulation applies here, Defendant concedes that no such notice was given. Defendant argues, however, that this regulation should not apply here, because it exceeds the scope of ERISA § 203(a)(3)(B) by reaching situations where benefit payments have not commenced and benefits are not being forfeited or suspended. As Defendant points out, the courts have refused to apply other DOL regulations where they exceed the scope of the enabling statute. See, e.g., Seaman v. Downtown Partnership of Baltimore, Inc., 991 F.Supp. 751, 754 (D.Md.1998) (citing Chevron U.S.A, Inc. v. Natural Resources Defense, 467 U.S. 837, 842-43, 104 S.Ct. 2778, 2781-82, 81 L.Ed.2d 694 (1984)). Defendant urges this Court to perform a similar Chevron analysis with respect to the DOL regulation at issue here. The Court, however, declines to reach this difficult question of the scope of the DOL’s authority to issue implementing regulations under ERISA § 203(a)(3)(B). In particular, there is no need to undertake such an analysis here, because the Plan itself requires notice of the deferral of benefit payments, even if § 203(a)(3)(B) does not. Having effectively chosen to incorporate the challenged DOL regulation into its own Plan, and having therefore obligated itself to provide notice, Defendant cannot maintain that it is being improperly subjected to a regulatory requirement of notice. This leaves only the question of the proper remedy for Defendant’s notice violation. Plaintiff argues that he is entitled to elect between (i) his monthly benefit as it continued to accrue under the Plan during his two additional years of service, and (ii) the actuarially adjusted value of his monthly benefit computed as of his normal retirement date at age 65. According to Plaintiffs actuarial expert, Joseph Esu-chanko, this latter amount is $6,480.97, and therefore exceeds the former amount of $5,169.98 (the amount now being received by Plaintiff). The principal authority cited by Plaintiff in support of this theory of recovery is a decade-old proposed Treasury regulation which, so far as the Court can tell, has never been adopted. See 53 Fed.Reg. 11876, 11879-86 (1988). More importantly, this proposed regulation nowhere addresses the issue of notice, much less specifying a remedy for any failure to provide notice. In contrast, Defendant directs the Court to the Sixth Circuit’s decision in Lewan-dowski v. Occidental Chemical Corp., 986 F.2d 1006, 1010 (6th Cir.1993), holding that “ERISA does not remedy procedural violations with a damage award.” In that case, the plaintiff alleged that the defendant “failed to comply with ERISA-imposed notice and disclosure obligations in administering” a retirement plan. 986 F.2d at 1007. Upon reviewing ERISA’s “civil remedy enforcement scheme” at 29 U.S.C. § 1132, and observing that § 1132(c) authorizes the imposition of a fixed civil penalty of up to $100 per day for ERISA procedural violations, the Court found “nothing in that subsection, or § 1132 as a whole, [which] suggests that ERISA would approve of an affirmative damage recovery based merely on a plan administrator’s failure to adhere to proper notification and disclosure procedures.” 986 F.2d at 1008. Moreover, upon surveying the relevant case law, the Sixth Circuit concluded that “[cjourts considering the issue rightly have refused to create a blanket ground for recovery not provided for in ERISA, either by precluding any damage award or limiting such award to the most egregious of circumstances.” 986 F.2d at 1009. Next, Defendant cites the decision in Kent v. United of Omaha Life Ins. Co., 96 F.3d 803, 807 (6th Cir.1996), for the proposition that “substantial compliance” is sufficient to satisfy the requirement under § 503 of ERISA, 29 U.S.C. § 1133, that an administrator must give adequate notice of the denial of a claim for benefits. In Kent, the Sixth Circuit conceded that “the procedures utilized in this case were technically deficient,” but held that these procedures nonetheless were “sufficient to meet the purposes of Section 1133 in insuring that the claimant understood the reasons for the denial of the claim as well as her rights to review of the decision.” 96 F.3d at 807. Defendant contends that ther