Mealey's ERISA
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April 17, 2024
LTD Claim Excluded By Policy’s Preexisting Condition Exclusion, 9th Circuit Says
PASADENA, Calif. — A district court did not err in entering judgment in favor of a disability insurer because the long-term disability (LTD) policy’s preexisting condition exclusion barred coverage as the disability claimant received medical treatment for symptoms related to the claimed disability within three months prior to the effective date of coverage of the policy, the Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals said.
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April 17, 2024
Attorney Fee In ERISA Record-Keeping Suit Is Cut To 1/4 Of $4.1M Settlement
NEW HAVEN, Conn. — Adopting the approach to attorney fees used in a 2014 decision in a different Employee Retirement Income Security Act case, a Connecticut federal judge on April 16 awarded class counsel a quarter of a $4.1 million class settlement with Xerox Corp. and its retirement plan committee rather than the requested third.
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April 15, 2024
5th Circuit Reverses Dismissal Of ERISA Imprudence Suit Over Fees, Share Classes
NEW ORLEANS — In an unpublished opinion reversing dismissal of a putative class Employee Retirement Income Security Act fees and funds challenge, a Fifth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel ruled an imprudence claim plausible “in light of the Supreme Court’s decision in [Hughes v. Northwestern University (Hughes I)] and circuit court decisions addressing similar allegations.”
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April 15, 2024
Blue Cross: Claim Denials Done With Plan In Mind, Not Discriminatory Intent
PASADENA, Calif. — A third-party administrator tells the Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals in an April 12 opening brief that it was simply fulfilling its fiduciary duty under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act when it denied claims for transgender care and cannot be held liable under the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act for any allegedly discriminatory plan details.
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April 15, 2024
U.S. Supreme Court Denies Review Bid Over 4th Circuit ERISA Surcharge Ruling
WASHINGTON, D.C. — The U.S. Supreme Court on April 15 declined to review a case over a heart transplant denial, which concerns whether surcharge is available under an Employee Retirement Income Security Act provision that allows equitable relief.
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April 15, 2024
Class Deal Of Nearly $4M Gets Final OK In ERISA Suit Over 401(k) Fees, Funds
ATLANTA — A Georgia federal judge has granted final approval to a $3,925,000 class settlement in an Employee Retirement Income Security Act case where the plaintiffs alleged mismanagement of a 401(k) plan.
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April 15, 2024
Parties Stipulate To Certification Of Large Class In ERISA Retirement Case
NEWARK, N.J. — The remaining parties in a suit over a retirement plan’s fees and funds and service providers’ purported use of participants’ confidential data in cross-selling have stipulated to certification of a large mandatory class and subclass in the Employee Retirement Income Security Act case.
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April 12, 2024
Multiemployer Pension Funds Lose Arbitration Bids In Bankruptcy Cases
WILMINGTON, Del. — Denying multiemployer funds’ motions to compel arbitration over purported withdrawal liability totaling $7.8 billion, a Delaware federal bankruptcy judge ruled that the claims in the Chapter 11 cases of trucking company Yellow Corp. and its affiliates “should be liquidated through the claims allowance process in this Court” and that the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corp. (PBGC) “raises important questions, but they are premature.”
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April 12, 2024
9th Circuit Discusses Parity Act Pleading Standard In Partly Reviving ERISA Case
PASADENA, Calif. — Addressing “what pleading standard applies to cases alleging an improper internal process” under the Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act of 2008 (MHPAEA or Parity Act), a Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel on April 11 partly reversed dismissal of a putative class case over mental health and substance use disorder (MH/SUD) treatment coverage.
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April 12, 2024
Failure To Offer Proof Of Continued Disability Supports Termination, Plan Says
PHILADELPHIA — A disability claimant’s failure to provide proof of a continued disability when her long-term disability (LTD) benefits were terminated supports the reasonableness of the disability plan’s termination of benefits and warrants the reversal of a district court’s judgment in favor of the claimant, the disability plan maintains in its appellant reply brief filed in the Third Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals.
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April 10, 2024
District Court Must Hold Bench Trial Based On Fact Issues In Disability Suit
RICHMOND, Va. — The Fourth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals on April 9 vacated and remanded a district court’s summary judgment ruling in favor of a disability insurer after determining that the lower court was required to hold a bench trial based on a Fourth Circuit ruling, issued after the district court’s decision, that clarifies the need for a bench trial in cases where issues of material fact are in dispute.
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April 09, 2024
6th Circuit Affirms Rulings In Professional Liability Coverage Dispute
CINCINNATI — The Sixth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals on April 8 affirmed a lower federal court’s summary judgment rulings in a professional liability coverage dispute arising from a financial adviser insured’s valuations for a bankrupt paper manufacturing company and its Employee Stock Ownership Plan, finding that the insurer had a duty to defend its insured until only claims falling under a policy exclusion remained and that the insured has to reimburse the insurer for defending it after the same exclusion applied.
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April 09, 2024
Cornell Waives Response To Review Bid For ERISA Prohibited Transaction Ruling
WASHINGTON, D.C. — Cornell University and related respondents have waived their right to respond to a certiorari petition in which retirement plan participants tell the U.S. Supreme Court that of two 2023 decisions that amplified a “preexisting circuit split” over Employee Retirement Income Security Act pleading standards for prohibited-transaction claims, the ruling against them “is the superior vehicle for review.”
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April 09, 2024
Parties Dispute Summary Judgment Issues In ERISA Suit Over ESG Factors
FORT WORTH, Texas — In a reply brief supporting summary judgment in a putative class case concerning environmental, social and governance (ESG) considerations and the purported proxy voting activism of investment management firms, American Airlines Inc. and a related defendant reiterate their contentions that the plaintiff’s theories fail for reasons including that he can’t prove any loss to the retirement plans at issue.
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April 09, 2024
After Summary Judgment In ERISA Fees Case, Defendants File Bill Of Costs For ESI
DES MOINES, Iowa — After an Iowa federal judge granted summary judgment against a class of 401(k) participants in a dispute over record-keeping fees, grocery chain Hy-Vee Inc. and related defendants filed a bill of costs seeking $53,319.87 in taxable costs, including $40,232.83 for discovery of electronically stored information (ESI).
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April 08, 2024
10th Circuit OKs Transfer Of Attorney Fee Request To Lower Court In ERISA Row
DENVER — A 10th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel in an Employee Retirement Income Security Act dispute over life insurance benefits has granted a beneficiary’s amended motion to transfer consideration of attorney fees on appeal to the trial court.
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April 08, 2024
High Court’s Review Sought For 5th Circuit ERISA Prohibited Transaction Ruling
WASHINGTON, D.C. — Seeking U.S. Supreme Court review of a decision involving what constitutes a prohibited transaction, a dental office and the 401(k) plan it sponsors present the case as a good vehicle “for resolving multiple circuit splits and providing much needed clarity on important and often dispositive issues of law arising from service relationships between [Employee Retirement Income Security Act] plans and their providers.”
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April 08, 2024
Amici Join DOL In Urging 5th Circuit To Let ESG Investing Rule Stand
NEW ORLEANS — Echoing various arguments made by the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) and its acting secretary, experts and entities including the American Retirement Association (ARA) have filed amicus curiae briefs urging the Fifth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals to affirm a ruling that left in place the DOL’s 2022 investment rule concerning environmental, social and governance (ESG) factors.
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April 08, 2024
Another Set Of Retirees Challenges AT&T Pension Risk Transfer Under ERISA
BOSTON — A second set of retirees has filed a putative class case in Massachusetts federal court challenging a May 2023 AT&T pension risk transfer (PRT) under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act.
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April 05, 2024
8th Circuit Argument Set In ERISA Imprudence Dispute Over Pleading Standard
ST. LOUIS — The Eighth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals has set oral argument for April 9 in retirement plan participants’ bid to revive their dismissed Employee Retirement Income Security Act case, with the key issue being whether the pleading standard in Matousek v. MidAmerican Energy Co. was met.
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April 05, 2024
Entities DOL Sued Over ESOP Deal Want To Appeal 9th Circuit Fee Ruling
WASHINGTON, D.C. — An engineering firm and the individuals who owned it before an employee stock ownership plan (ESOP) deal were given a June 6 deadline to seek U.S. Supreme Court review of an Equal Access to Justice Act (EAJA) ruling declining to make the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) pay attorney fees and nontaxable costs for its unsuccessful case against them.
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April 05, 2024
Bench Trial Results In Class Win In ERISA Suit Over Retirement Plan Conversion
HOUSTON — Following a bench trial in an Employee Retirement Income Security Act class action over the 1989 conversion of a retirement plan, a Texas federal judge has found that the plaintiffs “are entitled to equitable relief” in an amount yet to be determined.
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April 05, 2024
Defendants Win Dismissal Of ERISA Suit That Followed $30.9M Class Settlement
SPRINGFIELD, Ill. — A Massachusetts federal judge has granted dismissal of a follow-up Employee Retirement Income Security Act suit over retirement plan fees and proprietary funds, ruling in part that the class settlement of the prior case limits the claims.
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April 04, 2024
Termination Of LTD Benefits Was Not Abuse Of Discretion, Judge Says
ST. LOUIS — A disability plan’s termination of a claimant’s long-term disability benefits was not an abuse of discretion because the decision was reasonable based on the objective medical evidence, a Missouri federal judge said in partially granting the plan’s motion for summary judgment.
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April 04, 2024
Disability Insurer Must Reinstate Claimant’s LTD Benefits, Judge Says
MINNEAPOLIS — A Minnesota federal judge ordered a disability insurer to reinstate a claimant’s long-term disability (LTD) benefits after determining that the insurer failed to show that a lack of objective medical evidence supported its termination of benefits.