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Mealey's ERISA

July 29, 2024
Mich. Panel: 401(k), Insurance Can Satisfy Estate Claim In Wrongful Death Shooting

DETROIT — In cases consolidated on appeal, a Michigan appellate court affirmed the portion of a probate court’s order allowing recovery of life insurance proceeds but reversed the portion of the probate court’s order not allowing recovery of the proceeds of a 401(k) account in a wrongful death judgment owed to a mother’s estate against the estate of her daughter implicated in a murder/suicide, finding that both the 401(k) and life insurance proceeds were available to satisfy the judgment.
July 29, 2024
Ex-NFL Player Seeks High Court Review, Says Wrong Standard Of Review Applied

WASHINGTON, D.C. — A former National Football League player filed a petition for writ of certiorari in the U.S. Supreme Court, contending that the high court should review the Fifth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals’ ruling that he failed to prove that he is entitled to additional disability benefits under the NFL’s benefits plan because a de novo standard of review should have been applied based on the plan’s procedural violations.
July 29, 2024
NFL Disability Plan Says Former Player’s Appeal Should Not Be Reinstated

ATLANTA — The 11th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals should summarily deny a former National Football League player’s motion to reinstate his appeal in a dispute over additional disability benefits owed under the NFL’s disability plan because the motion is untimely and because the former player failed to show any good cause to excuse the untimeliness of the appeal, the NFL plan maintains in response to the former player’s motion.
July 26, 2024
Parties Stipulate To Dismissal Of Long COVID Disability Benefits Suit After Settlement

MIAMI — Following a second order issued by a Florida federal judge, the parties in a long-term disability (LTD) benefits suit stemming from a claimant’s diagnosis with long COVID filed a joint stipulation of dismissal on July 25 after settling the LTD claim.
July 26, 2024
Judge Stays Effective Date Of DOL’s New Investment Advice Fiduciary Rule

TYLER, Texas — A Texas federal judge has ordered a nationwide stay of the effective date of a new U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) rule that redefines and broadens who is an investment advice fiduciary under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act, concluding in his July 25 ruling that the rule conflicts with ERISA by, among other things, “treating as fiduciaries those who engage in one-time recommendations to roll over assets from an ERISA plan to an IRA.”
July 25, 2024
With ERISA Issue Pending, 3rd Circuit Lets Denial Stand In N.J. Temp Worker Row

PHILADELPHIA — A Third Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel upheld denial of a preliminary injunction request that sought to halt New Jersey’s Temporary Workers’ Bill of Rights (TWBR), saying in a July 24 ruling that that staffing industry groups “failed to show they were likely to succeed” on the merits of their initial claims.
July 25, 2024
Citing Mator, 3rd Circuit Revives ERISA Suit Over Record-Keeping Fees

PHILADELPHIA — Noting a recent decision that “reversed the opinion on which the trial court relied and clarified the pleading standards for excessive fee claims under” the Employee Retirement Income Security Act, a Third Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel issued a nonprecedential July 24 opinion reviving a putative class action over record-keeping fees.
July 24, 2024
New Injunction Bid Based On ERISA Preemption Disputed In N.J. Temp Worker Row

CAMDEN, N.J. — Seeking a preliminary injunction to halt part of New Jersey’s Temporary Workers’ Bill of Rights (TWBR) under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act, staffing industry groups tell a New Jersey federal court that the case law regulators cite is distinguishable.
July 23, 2024
High Court Told ERISA Prohibited-Transaction Differences Don’t Need Review

WASHINGTON, D.C. — In a July 22 respondent brief filed at the request of the U.S. Supreme Court, Cornell University and related entities urge denial of a certiorari petition regarding an Employee Retirement Income Security Act ruling, arguing in part that “no court of appeals that has considered a prohibited-transaction claim challenging a contract for routine plan services has allowed the claim to proceed.”
July 23, 2024
$19M Class Settlement Gets Final OK In ERISA Row Over Proprietary Funds

NEW YORK — A New York federal judge has granted final approval to a $19 million class settlement resolving claims over the use of proprietary investments in two New York Life Insurance Co. 401(k) plans and the use of a stable value fund as the default investment, also approving a 33% attorney fee and all awards as requested.
July 23, 2024
2nd Circuit Sets Argument In Mortgage-Backed Securities Appeal Over ERISA Claims

NEW YORK — The Second Circuit Court of Appeals has set oral argument for Sept. 5 in a dispute involving whether a pension fund’s investment in mortgage-backed securities (MBS) made the underlying residential mortgages Employee Retirement Income Security Act plan assets and exposed the mortgage servicers to ERISA fiduciary liability.
July 23, 2024
Trustees Stress Rarity, Oppose Review Of Withdrawal Liability Assumptions Case

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Taking a very different position than the employer petitioners and amicus the Chamber of Commerce of the United States of America, multiemployer pension plan trustees urge the U.S. Supreme Court to deny review of a Multiemployer Pension Plan Amendments Act (MPPAA) withdrawal liability decision that created a circuit split.
July 19, 2024
5th Circuit Orders Limited Remand In Challenge To ESG Investing Rule

NEW ORLEANS — Citing a recent U.S. Supreme Court decision that overturned a deference doctrine on which the lower court relied, a Fifth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel on July 18 vacated and remanded a decision upholding a 2022 U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) investment rule concerning environmental, social and governance (ESG) factors.
July 17, 2024
California Judge Dismisses LTD Plan From Suit, Leaving Insurer As Sole Defendant

OAKLAND, Calif. — A California federal judge dismissed a long-term disability (LTD) plan from a disability claimant’s suit, leaving the disability insurer as the sole defendant after the parties jointly agreed to dismiss the plan as a defendant.
July 17, 2024
Panel Affirms Ruling In Favor Of Disability Claimant, Says Denial Was De Novo Wrong

ATLANTA — A disability insurer’s denial of a medical doctor’s long-term disability (LTD) benefits claim was de novo wrong because the insurer construed the policy language referring to compensation from a medical partnership without considering the context of the policy language as a whole, the 11th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals said in affirming a district court’s summary judgment ruling entered in favor of a disability claimant.
July 16, 2024
3rd Circuit Lets Employer Dodge 12-Years-Later Withdrawal Liability Bill

PHILADELPHIA — Saying a statutory requirement of the Multiemployer Pension Plan Amendments Act (MPPAA) was not met, a Third Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel affirmed vacation of an arbitration award in an Employee Retirement Income Security Act dispute over withdrawal liability.
July 16, 2024
In New 5th Circuit Panel Ruling, Big ERISA Multiplan Class Survives As Opt-Out

NEW ORLEANS — Withdrawing its August 2023 opinion upholding certification of a mandatory class of participants in thousands of retirement and health benefit plans, a Fifth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel on July 15 partly reversed and remanded, saying an opt-out class is appropriate but a mandatory class is not.
July 12, 2024
Parties In ERISA Suit Over Fund Managers’ ESG Efforts File Posttrial Briefs

FORT WORTH, Texas — Following a four-day bench trial in Texas federal court, parties in a class action over environmental, social and governance (ESG) considerations and the purported proxy voting activism of investment management firms filed posttrial briefs on July 11.
July 12, 2024
6th Circuit Won’t Rehear Case Over Multiemployer Funds’ Attempt To Force Audit

CINCINNATI — Following an unpublished panel decision with partial dissent that affirmed a ruling against multiemployer fringe benefit trust funds seeking an audit under the Labor Management Relations Act (LMRA) and the Employee Retirement Income Security Act, the Sixth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals denied a petition for rehearing en banc.
July 12, 2024
Judge OKs $2M Class Settlement In ERISA Row But Denies Incentive Award Requests

COLUMBUS, Ga. — Approving a $2 million class settlement in a case involving the investment decisions and administrative costs of a terminated retirement plan, a Georgia federal judge granted attorney fees and expenses as requested but cited Johnson v. NPAS Sols., LLC in denying requests for $5,000 and $10,000 incentive awards.
June 13, 2024
COMMENTARY: Health Plan Fee Litigation: The Next Wave Of ERISA Litigation?

By Neil R. Morrison, Lars Golumbic and Kara Petteway Wheatley
July 11, 2024
Judge Dismisses Former Twitter Employees’ ERISA Suit For Severance Benefits

SAN FRANCISCO — Ruling that the plaintiffs didn’t prove that a severance plan is governed by the Employee Retirement Income Security Act, a California federal judge granted dismissal of a putative class complaint in which former Twitter employees sought more than $500 million in benefits.
July 10, 2024
2nd Circuit Won’t Rehear ERISA Effective Vindication Case After 2-1 Ruling

NEW YORK — Denying without explanation a petition for panel or en banc rehearing in a case involving a high-profile Employee Retirement Income Security Act issue, the Second Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals on July 9 declined to revisit a 2-1 ruling that applied the effective vindication exception and upheld denial of a motion for individual arbitration concerning an employee stock ownership plan (ESOP) deal.
July 10, 2024
Parties Argue ESG Investing Rule’s Tiebreaker Provision Before 5th Circuit Panel

NEW ORLEANS — In July 9 oral argument before a Fifth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel regarding a 2022 U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) investment rule concerning environmental, social and governance (ESG) factors, the parties acknowledged but did not primarily focus on a recent U.S. Supreme Court decision overturning a deference doctrine that was relied on in the challenged opinion upholding the rule.
July 10, 2024
October Argument Set On Dismissal Motion In ERISA Pension Risk Transfer Case

GREENBELT, Md. — A Maryland federal judge on July 9 scheduled Oct. 10 oral argument on the only fully briefed dismissal motion in the handful of similar recent putative class actions challenging pension risk transfers (PRTs) under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act.