Massachusetts Mutual Life Insurance Co. v. Russell

473 U.S. 134 · Decided June 27, 1985 · Supreme Court of the United States

At a glance

Massachusetts Mutual Life Insurance Co. v. Russell was decided on June 27, 1985 unanimously (9–0). The Court reversed the lower court's decision. Justice John Paul Stevens wrote the opinion of the Court. SCDB classifies its main issue as “Employee Retirement Income Security Act” in the Economic Activity area.

Read the opinion

• CourtListener (Free Law Project) — opinion text
• Library of Congress — official U.S. Reports scan

Case details

How the Justices voted

Full case caption

Massachusetts Mutual Life Insurance Co. et al. v. Russell

SCDB identifiers: case 1984-150, docket 1984-150-01.

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Cases on the same legal provision: Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA)

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  475 U.S. 211Decided February 26, 19869–0Byron R. White
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• Metropolitan Life Insurance Co. v. Taylor
  481 U.S. 58Decided April 6, 19879–0Sandra Day O'Connor
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  482 U.S. 1Decided June 1, 19875–4William J. Brennan Jr.
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Same Term, same area (Economic Activity)

• Mills Music, Inc. v. Snyder
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  469 U.S. 189Decided January 8, 19858–1Sandra Day O'Connor
• Ohio v. Kovacs
  469 U.S. 274Decided January 9, 19859–0Byron R. White
• Chemical Manufacturers Association v. Natural Resources Defense Council, Inc.
  470 U.S. 116Decided February 27, 19855–4Byron R. White
• Dean Witter Reynolds Inc. v. Byrd
  470 U.S. 213Decided March 4, 19859–0Thurgood Marshall
• Air France v. Saks
  470 U.S. 392Decided March 4, 19858–0Sandra Day O'Connor

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Source: Supreme Court Database, 2026 Release 01 (data file dated September 8, 2026). Imported into CaseTrail November 5, 2026. Coverage: decisions from the 1946 through 2025 Terms. Methodology · Report an error