"We disagree with the Court of Appeals' assessment that the inferences applied in Yard-Man and its progeny represent ordinary principles of contract law. As an initial matter, Yard-Man violates ordinary contract principles by placing a thumb on the scale in favor of vested retiree benefits in all collective-bargaining agreements. That rule has no basis in ordinary principles of contract law.... Further compounding this error, the Court of Appeals has refused to apply general durational clauses to provisions governing retiree benefits.... The Court of Appeals also failed even to consider the traditional principle that courts should not construe ambiguous writings to create lifetime promises.... We reject the Yard-Man inferences as inconsistent with ordinary principles of contract law.... We vacate the judgment of the Court of Appeals and remand the case for that court to apply ordinary principles of contract law in the first instance." [M&G Polymers v. Tackett, No. 13-1010 (U.S. Jan. 26, 2015)]  MORE >>