DOL Files Amicus Brief In 9th Circuit ERISA Case Involving Tobacco Surcharge

( March 5, 2024, 2:39 PM EST) -- SAN FRANCISCO — For the third time in recent months — this time in a Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals case concerning a health plan’s tobacco surcharge — the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) has filed an amicus curiae brief supporting application of the effective vindication doctrine in an Employee Retirement Income Security Act dispute involving what the DOL calls a representative action waiver....