Mealey's ERISA
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January 23, 2024
Disability Claimant’s 2nd Suit Not Barred By Res Judicata, Panel Majority Says
PASADENA, Calif. — A disability claimant’s suit seeking long-term disability (LTD) benefits is not barred by the doctrine of res judicata because the claim pertaining to the denial of the claimant’s LTD benefits had not accrued when the claimant filed her first suit, the majority of the Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals said Jan. 22 in reversing a district court’s ruling in favor of the disability insurer.
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January 23, 2024
$11.8M Class Settlement Proposed In ERISA Case Against Health System
BALTIMORE — Asserting that an $11.8 million settlement will provide “average relief of $481 to Class Members,” the plaintiff challenging management of a Maryland health system 403(b) retirement plan under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act has asked a Maryland federal court for preliminary approval.
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January 22, 2024
Judge Dismisses ERISA Record-Keeping Fees Case Without Leave To Amend
GREEN BAY, Wis. — Adopting a report and recommendation (R&R) concluding that allegations of excessive record-keeping 401(k) fees were “not enough to cross the line from possibility to plausibility,” a Wisconsin federal judge on Jan. 19 granted dismissal of an Employee Retirement Income Security Act suit and rejected the plaintiff’s request to file a second amended complaint.
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January 22, 2024
Challengers To DOL’s ESG Investing Rule Urge 5th Circuit To Issue Reversal
NEW ORLEANS — A group of states, companies and individuals who unsuccessfully challenged the U.S. Department of Labor’s 2022 investment rule concerning environmental, social and governance (ESG) factors are urging the Fifth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals to reverse summary judgment and vacate the rule, contending that “[a]llowing consideration of collateral factors as a tiebreaker violates” the Employee Retirement Income Security Act.
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January 19, 2024
Former Workers Win $2.4M In ERISA Severance Case Involving WARN Act Claim
ABINGDON, Va. — On remand of a case involving a severance plan and the federal Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification (WARN) Act, a Virgina federal judge granted two unopposed motions and entered a $2,407,471.90 judgment for class members.
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January 18, 2024
2nd Circuit: Judge In ERISA Row Over Facility Fees Didn’t Abuse Discretion
NEW YORK — In a Jan. 17 summary order affirming judgment for a health insurer and related entities in a suit over reimbursement for facility fees in New York, a Second Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel said in part that the trial court “did not abuse its discretion by admitting evidence related to” the insurer’s claims adjusting process.
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January 17, 2024
High Court Told ‘Chaos’ Will Ensue ‘In A World Without Chevron’ Deference
WASHINGTON, D.C. — The U.S. Supreme Court was told Jan. 17 that “chaos” will ensue “in a world without Chevron” deference by government attorneys, who urged it to apply stare decisis and uphold Chevron, which is being challenged in two cases arising out of federal fishing regulations.
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January 18, 2024
California Federal Judge Certifies 2 Classes In ERISA Row Over 401(k) Fees, Funds
SANTA ANA, Calif. — Largely rejecting a variety of arguments advanced by the defendants, a California federal judge granted certification of two classes in a consolidated Employee Retirement Income Security Act case over allegedly excessive record-keeping fees and the selection and retention of allegedly underperforming funds.
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January 18, 2024
Parties Stipulate To Dismissal Of Appeal In ERISA Row Over Imputed Withdrawal Liability
WASHINGTON, D.C. — Multiemployer pension plan trustees and a Bermuda insurance and reinsurance company have stipulated to voluntary dismissal with prejudice of the trustees’ appeal to the District of Columbia Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals regarding dismissal of their lawsuit over $934 million in withdrawal liability.
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January 17, 2024
After $4.5M ERISA Deal Draws Denial, Parties Report Global Deal In Works
FLORENCE, S.C. — A week after a South Carolina federal judge denied a motion proposing a $4.5 million class settlement of claims against one defendant, the parties in a suit over a retirement plan’s use of proprietary collective investment trusts (CITs) have obtained a stay of all deadlines pursuant to a granted motion in which they reported reaching an unspecified “global agreement in principle on all salient terms of a settlement to fully and finally resolve all claims.”
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January 16, 2024
In Reversal, 9th Circuit Says Assignments Give Surgery Center ERISA Standing To Sue
PASADENA, Calif. — Reversing and remanding dismissal of a suit, a Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel ruled that patient assignments give a surgery center derivative standing under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act to sue for nonpayment of approximately $5.4 million in services rendered.
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January 12, 2024
Class Certification Bid Fails In ERISA Challenge To Multiple-Employer Plan Fees
MADISON, Wis. — Dismissing three of four plaintiffs for lack of standing and applying Spano v. The Boeing Co., a Wisconsin federal judge denied a class certification motion in a suit over the record-keeping and administration costs of a professional employer organization’s retirement plan because individual employers’ negotiations with the record-keeper resulted in “disparate fees.”
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January 12, 2024
Denial Of STD Benefits Was Not Arbitrary, Capricious, Magistrate Judge Says
WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. — A disability insurer reasonably weighed conflicting medical evidence regarding a claimant’s ability to work in her own occupation before denying her claim for short-term disability (STD) benefits, a Florida federal magistrate judge said in finding that the insurer’s denial of benefits was not arbitrary and capricious.
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January 12, 2024
Washington Federal Judge Awards Disability Claimant Attorney Fees, Costs
SEATTLE — A Washington federal judge awarded a disability claimant more than $94,000 in attorney fees based on the claimant’s success in showing that she is entitled to long-term disability (LTD) benefits under a disability plan.
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January 12, 2024
STD Claim Remanded; Plan Administrator Must Clarify Why Claim Was Denied
TULSA, Okla. — An Oklahoma federal judge remanded a short-term disability (STD) claim to a plan administrator for clarification on the issue of why the plan administrator denied a disability claimant’s second appeal following the termination of his STD benefits.
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January 12, 2024
Disability Claimant Awarded $312,000 For Attorney Fees In Benefits Calculation Dispute
SANTA ANA, Calif. — Following a disability claimant’s successful appeal on a breach of fiduciary duty claim and subsequent settlement with the disability insurer, a California federal judge entered final judgment in the suit and awarded the claimant more than $312,000 in attorney fees after applying a reduction to the number of hours billed by the claimant’s counsel.
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January 11, 2024
District Court Erred In Limiting Award Of LTD Benefits, 9th Circuit Says
PASADENA, Calif. — A district court erred in finding that a claimant was not disabled beyond a certain date because the medical evidence does not show that there was any improvement in the claimant’s heart-related condition, the Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals said in reversing the lower court’s ruling.
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January 11, 2024
Disability Suit Barred By Utah’s Statute Of Limitations For Insurance Claims
SALT LAKE CITY — A disability claimant’s suit is barred by Utah’s three-year statute of limitations for claims stemming from insurance contracts because the claimant failed to filed suit within three years as required by the statute, a Utah federal judge said, noting that it was not necessary to interpret the policy’s three-year limitations provision based on the claimant’s argument that she never received a final claims denial letter from the insurer.
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January 10, 2024
Parties Wrangle Over ERISA Conclusion Regarding Deferred Compensation Plans
NEW YORK — Parties in a putative class action over deferred compensation are wrangling over a New York federal court’s conclusion that the compensation incentive and equity incentive plans at issue are Employee Retirement Income Security Act plans, with former Morgan Stanley financial advisers arguing in a Jan. 9 filing that “there is no basis for clarification or reconsideration.”
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January 10, 2024
Denying Rehearing, 9th Circuit Lets Fee Denial Under EAJA Stand In ERISA Case
HONOLULU — After a split panel upheld denial of attorney fees and nontaxable costs under the Equal Access to Justice Act (EAJA) in an employee stock ownership plan (ESOP) case, the Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals denied a petition for rehearing en banc that an amicus curiae organization argued should have been granted because the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) took “objectively unreasonable” valuation positions.
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January 10, 2024
Evidence Supports Finding That Claimant Is Disabled From Own Occupation
DALLAS — A disability insurer must reinstate a claimant’s long-term disability (LTD) benefits because the preponderance of the evidence supports a finding that the claimant is disabled from performing the material and substantial duties of her own occupation as an insurance agent, a Texas federal judge said in granting the claimant’s motion for judgment on the administrative record.
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January 10, 2024
Disability Claimant Is Entitled To LTD Benefits Based On Evidence, Judge Says
ROANOKE, Va. — A Virginia federal judge awarded a claimant long-term disability (LTD) benefits after determining that the disability insurer abused its discretion in denying the claim because sufficient evidence supports a finding that the claimant was disabled prior to the expiration of the disability plan and fulfilled the plan’s terms before filing a claim for LTD benefits.
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January 09, 2024
Transgender Care Plaintiffs Urge Court Not To Stay Pending Appeal
TACOMA, Wash. — Plaintiffs in a class action opposed a stay of their case on Jan. 8, telling a federal judge in Washington state that they don’t have time to delay critical medical care while their insurer appeals a well-supported decision finding that it cannot violate anti-discrimination laws.
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January 09, 2024
Disability Claimant Awarded More Than $488K In Fees, Costs, Prejudgment Interest
NEW YORK — Following a finding that a disability claimant is owed benefits under a supplemental disability plan, a New York federal judge awarded the claimant more than $488,000 in attorney fees, costs and prejudgment interest after determining that the amounts requested by the claimant were reasonable.
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January 09, 2024
Claimant Failed To Show He Was Disabled For Entirety Of Elimination Period
PASADENA, Calif. — A disability insurer properly denied a claim for long-term disability (LTD) benefits because the claimant failed to meet his burden of showing that he was disabled throughout the entire 90-day elimination period as required by the policy and because the record contains no medical evidence contradicting the date for the onset of disability, the Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals said in affirming a district court’s judgment in favor of the disability insurer.