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Mealey's ERISA

  • January 21, 2025

    Disability Claimant To 7th Circuit: Lower Court Erred In Finding Burden Not Met

    CHICAGO — A district court erred in finding that a disability claimant failed to meet her burden of proving by a preponderance of the evidence that she remained disabled from working in a sedentary occupation as a result of symptoms related to fibromyalgia because the lower court ignored relevant precedent in finding that the claimant was no longer disabled, the claimant says in an appellant brief filed in the Seventh Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals.

  • January 21, 2025

    Latest Parity Act Rules Are Focus Of Lawsuit Against DOL, Other Agencies

    WASHINGTON, D.C. — The ERISA Industry Committee (ERIC) on Jan. 17 sued three U.S. agencies in a District of Columbia federal court over Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act (MHPAEA or Parity Act) final rules released in September, which it argues upend “the regulatory and compliance framework that has evolved over decades pursuant to the limits established by Congress” and impose “entirely new, ambiguous requirements.”

  • January 21, 2025

    Settlement Of Just Over $1.4M Gets Initial OK In Suit Over Insurer’s Denials

    UTICA, N.Y. — A New York federal judge on Jan. 17 granted preliminary approval to a $1,415,000 settlement in a class action over allegations that United Behavioral Health violated the Employee Retirement Income Security Act by issuing blanket denials for residential treatments for mental health and chemical dependency claims when it considered even a single aspect of the facility’s treatment experimental.

  • January 17, 2025

    $4.95M Class Settlement Gets Preliminary OK In ERISA Tobacco Surcharge Suit

    SPRINGFIELD, Mo. — A Missouri federal judge on Jan. 16 granted preliminary approval to a $4.95 million class settlement proposed in a suit that was filed months before a recent wave of similar Employee Retirement Income Security Act challenges to health plans’ tobacco surcharges.

  • January 16, 2025

    DOL Issues Long-Awaited ‘Adequate Consideration’ Proposed Regulation For ESOPs

    WASHINGTON, D.C. — The U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) on Jan. 16 released a long-awaited revised proposed regulation and a proposed class exemption on an Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 issue that has seen significant litigation — employee stock ownership plan (ESOP) transactions.

  • January 16, 2025

    Unspecified Deal Reported Just Before Bench Trial In ERISA Suit Over TDFs

    ALLENTOWN, Pa. — Saying she was notified by email “that the Parties have settled this matter,” a Pennsylvania federal judge on Jan. 15 adjourned “all trial-related proceedings” in an Employee Retirement Income Security Act class action against electricity provider PPL Corp. and related defendants challenging the inclusion of Northern Trust target date funds (TDFs) in four defined-contribution pension benefit plans.

  • January 15, 2025

    Attorney Fees Of Over $4.2M Awarded in $14.5 Settlement Of ESOP Deal Challenge

    WILMINGTON, Del. — A Delaware federal judge on Jan. 14 granted final approval to two class settlements that the plaintiffs said sit “at the high end of the range of settlements resolving” similar employee stock ownership plan (ESOP) claims, with a combined recovery of $14.5 million that averages “about $35,109 per Class Member before fees, costs, and expenses.”

  • January 15, 2025

    Plaintiffs Fight Bid For Disclosure Log In Suit Over Repricing Method

    OAKLAND, Calif. — Alleging ulterior motives and arguing that they have a common interest agreement (CIA) with the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) that “embodies the protections of [a protective order] and ensures the confidentiality of documents is maintained,” plaintiffs in a suit over alleged underpayment for out-of-network behavioral health treatment claims urge a California federal court to deny an administrative motion.

  • January 14, 2025

    Judge Affirms Discovery Orders Involving DOL Common Interest Agreement

    DENVER — Saying that a decision by the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) not to file a challenge “ends the issue” but that she addressed objections anyway “out of caution,” a Colorado federal judge on Jan. 13 upheld related discovery rulings concerning a common interest agreement (CIA) in an Employee Retirement Income Security Act suit challenging a deal.

  • January 14, 2025

    DOL Will Argue As Amicus In 6th Circuit ERISA Case Against Health Plan TPA

    CINCINNATI — The U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) has won permission to participate as amicus curiae in Feb. 6 oral argument before a Sixth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel supporting revival of an Employee Retirement Income Security Act suit against the third-party administrator (TPA) of a self-funded health benefits plan.

  • January 13, 2025

    Amicus Brief Proposed On Remand Of Tennessee ERISA Preemption Row

    CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. — On remand after a dismissal order was vacated, the ERISA Industry Committee (ERIC) has asked a Tennessee federal court for leave to file an amicus curiae brief supporting summary judgment for the plaintiff who is arguing that the Employee Retirement Income Security Act preempts Tennessee law affecting pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs).

  • January 13, 2025

    High Court Seeks Response To Review Bid For ERISA Ruling On Burden-Shifting

    WASHINGTON, D.C. — The U.S. Supreme Court on Jan. 13 requested a response to a certiorari petition in which 401(k) plan participants ask the high court to weigh in on “whether, consistent with trust law, burden-shifting applies to the element of causation under” part of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act.

  • January 13, 2025

    Review Bid Fails For 6th Circuit Effective Vindication Ruling In ERISA Row

    WASHINGTON, D.C. — In a Jan. 13 order list, the U.S. Supreme Court denied the latest of several certiorari petitions seeking review of decisions applying the effective vindication doctrine in Employee Retirement Income Security Act cases; this one focused on a Sixth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals ruling in a putative class action over management of defined-contribution retirement plans.

  • January 13, 2025

    After Trial, Judge Finds Disloyalty In ERISA Suit Over Fund Manager’s ESG Efforts

    FORT WORTH, Texas — In a Jan. 10 ruling issued after a bench trial in a class action over environmental, social and governance (ESG) considerations and the purported proxy voting activism of investment management firms, a Texas federal judge found that American Airlines Inc. and its employee benefits committee breached their fiduciary duty of loyalty but not their duty of prudence.

  • January 13, 2025

    Appellees To 9th Circuit: Uphold Dismissal Of ERISA Suit Over Severance Benefits

    SAN FRANCISCO — Urging the Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals to affirm dismissal of a putative class case filed by former Twitter employees and reject arguments that the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) makes as amicus curiae, Elon Musk and related entities argue in part in a Jan. 10 brief that precedent supports the ruling that the workers didn’t plausibly allege that a purported severance plan is governed by the Employee Retirement Income Security Act.

  • January 10, 2025

    After Revival, Defendants Win ERISA Disclosure Case With Release Agreement

    NEW YORK — After the putative class action over annual benefit statements provided after a traditional defined benefit retirement plan was converted to a cash balance plan was partly revived on different grounds, a New York federal judge ruled against the plaintiff on all remaining claims, which she said were “barred by the release the plaintiff executed in exchange for receipt of his severance package.”

  • January 10, 2025

    Disability Insurer Wrongfully Terminated Benefits, Woman With Long COVID Says

    RIVERSIDE, Calif. — A woman who was diagnosed with long COVID filed suit on Jan. 9 in California federal court against her disability insurer, alleging that the insurer wrongfully terminated her long-term disability (LTD) benefits after determining that she was able to perform the duties of her own occupation as the director of operations at a museum.

  • January 10, 2025

    Federal Judge Says Application Of Mental Health Limitation Was Not Unreasonable

    FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. — A Florida federal judge granted summary judgment in favor of a disability insurer after finding that the insurer did not incorrectly determine the claimant’s date of disability and did not unreasonably apply a mental health limitation to limit the payment of long-term disability (LTD) benefits to the claimant.

  • January 10, 2025

    Parties In Disability Dispute Allowed To File Administrative Record Under Seal

    SPRINGFIELD, Mass. — A Massachusetts federal magistrate judge granted a joint motion filed by a disability claimant and disability insurer to file the administrative record under seal, according to a note on the court docket.

  • January 10, 2025

    2nd Circuit Affirms That Amended ERISA Record-Keeping Fees Complaint Was Futile

    NEW YORK — Citing a different panel’s recent ruling in Singh v. Deloitte LLP, which had “substantially the same claims,” a  Second Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel issued a summary order and judgment affirming denial of leave to file a third amended complaint in a putative class action challenging a retirement plan’s record-keeping fees.

  • January 10, 2025

    Claimant Met Burden Of Showing She Is Disabled From Own Occupation, Judge Says

    SAN FRANCISCO — A California federal judge granted a disability claimant’s motion for judgment and denied a disability insurer’s motion for judgment after determining that the disability claimant met her burden of proving that she is disabled from performing the duties of her own occupation.

  • January 10, 2025

    Magistrate Judge Says Disability Insurer Did Not Have Right To Terminate Benefits

    ORLANDO, Fla. — A Florida federal magistrate judge recommended that a disability claimant’s motion for summary judgment be granted and recommended a finding that the disability insurer’s decision to terminate the claimant’s long-term disability (LTD) benefits was arbitrary and capricious because the insurer did not have the right to terminate the claimant’s benefits based on a failure to provide additional documents.

  • January 10, 2025

    2nd Circuit Again Upholds A Refusal To Compel Arbitration In An ERISA Case

    NEW YORK — Granting a motion based on Cedeno v. Sasson, a Second Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel summarily affirmed a ruling that an Employee Stock Ownership Plan (ESOP) arbitration clause is not enforceable because it conflicts with the Employee Retirement Income Security Act.

  • January 09, 2025

    NFL Disability Plan Tells 11th Circuit District Court Ruling Must Be Affirmed

    ATLANTA — A district court’s ruling in favor of the National Football League’s disability plan must be affirmed because the former NFL player failed to exhaust all administrative remedies and failed to show that any exceptional circumstances excused the failure to exhaust all administrative remedies, the plan says in its appellee brief filed in the 11th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals.

  • January 09, 2025

    Disability Insurer Cannot Use Evidence Collected After Claim Was Deemed Exhausted

    FORT WAYNE, Ind. — A disability insurer is not permitted to introduce any evidence gathered after the date on which a claimant’s long-term disability (LTD) benefits claim was deemed exhausted because the insurer failed to issue a decision of the claimant’s appeal within 45 days as required by regulations set forth by the U.S. Department of Labor, an Indiana federal judge said in granting the claimant’s motion to exclude evidence collected after the date on which the claim was deemed exhausted.