CHICAGO — An Illinois federal judge denied dismissal of an Employee Retirement Income Security Act suit over allegedly excessive record-keeping fees, rejecting the argument that the recent Seventh Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals decision in Hughes v. Northwestern Univ. (Hughes II) “did not announce a ‘new pleading standard.’”
NEW HAVEN, Conn. — A 10-person jury was selected in Connecticut federal court on May 30 for trial in an Employee Retirement Income Security Act class action over claims by participants in a Yale University 403(b) retirement plan related to record-keeping fees, investment monitoring, share classes and a bundled services arrangement with the Teachers Insurance and Annuity Association of American (TIAA).
SALT LAKE CITY — Citing in part potential concerns that competitors could use artificial intelligence and machine learning to create derivative products if a vendor’s health care guidance information were publicly released, a federal magistrate judge in Utah granted a motion for a protective order and rejected the argument that the Employee Retirement Income Security Act mandated release of the evidence.
WASHINGTON, D.C. — Urging the U.S. Supreme Court to deny review of an Employee Retirement Income Security Act decision concerning how long employers have to contribute to a multiemployer benefit plan, respondents argue that there is no circuit split and the challenged ruling amounts to “application of settled law to facts of a particular case.”
NEWARK, N.J. — A disability claimant alleges in a complaint filed in New Jersey federal court that a disability insurer wrongfully denied her claim for long-term disability (LTD) benefits and then, violated the requirements of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act by failing to issue a decision on her second-level administrative appeal within 45 days.
SAN FRANCISCO — Affirming summary judgment under Thole v. U.S. Bank N.A. in a class action in which pension plan participants argued that they weren’t provided “meaningful benefits,” a Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel issued a May 24 unpublished memorandum disposition finding no error in the decision that the participants lack standing.
WASHINGTON, D.C. — The District of Columbia Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals denied a petition for rehearing en banc on two aspects of a panel ruling on interlocutory appeal that reversed and remanded denial of class certification in a suit over retirement plan vesting determinations.
NEW YORK — After the parties fully briefed an interlocutory appeal regarding a New York City law enacted during the COVID-19 pandemic, the Second Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals on May 23 enacted a stipulation withdrawing the appeal and the parties stipulated in New York federal court to voluntary dismissal of the case with prejudice.
DETROIT — An insurer lacked the fiduciary power required to be liable under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act, and there is no evidence that it employed different standards for evaluating mental health and surgical or medical claims, a federal judge in Michigan said May 22 in granting the insurer’s motion to dismiss.
BOSTON — A Massachusetts federal judge has granted preliminary approval to a proposal in which a $2.9 million payment plus an agreement “to bolster the fiduciaries’ investment and service provider monitoring processes” would settle a putative class suit challenging fees and funds in jointly administered retirement plans.
CINCINNATI — A district court did not err in finding that a disability plan misapplied the plan’s mental health exclusion because the claimant was never diagnosed with chronic pain syndrome as required for the exclusion to apply, a panel majority of the Sixth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals said May 19 in affirming judgment for the claimant.
CHICAGO — An employee stock ownership plan (ESOP) is asking the Seventh Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals to reverse dismissal of claims it asserted against company executives, independent trustees and financial advisers under federal securities laws, the Employee Retirement Income Security Act and state law.
NEW YORK — Contending that materials were properly considered and an argument that interpretations were unreasonable lacks merit, a health insurer and related entities urged the Second Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals to affirm judgment for them in an Employee Retirement Income Security Act suit over reimbursement for facility fees in New York.
PHILADELPHIA — Saying that “vaguely alleging recordkeeping services are fungible does not plausibly allege a breach,” a Pennsylvania federal judge granted dismissal with prejudice of a complaint in which retirement plan participants cited allegedly excessive record-keeping fees in arguing breach of the fiduciary duty of prudence under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act.
WASHINGTON, D.C. — Asserting that “transfer of contribution history to a successor is an issue of first impression in this Court,” petitioners ask the U.S. Supreme Court to review a Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals decision regarding a withdrawal liability dispute under the Multiemployer Pension Plan Amendments Act (MPPAA) of 1980.
AMARILLO, Texas — Arguing that the administrative record supports their bid to have a U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) investment rule concerning environmental, social and governance (ESG) factors vacated, 26 states and other plaintiffs moved in Texas federal court for summary judgment.
TAMPA, Fla. — The 11th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals on May 17 granted voluntary dismissal of an appeal the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) filed over a ruling that vacated and remanded to the agency a rollover recommendations policy that a Florida federal judge said “impermissibly unmoors the focus of the inquiry into whether an individual is a fiduciary away from a specific” Employee Retirement Income Security Act plan.
COLUMBUS, Ohio — A dialysis provider’s discrimination and Employee Retirement Income Security Act claims may proceed, a federal judge in Ohio said in granting a health plan summary judgment on a single claim under the Medicare Secondary Payor Act (MSPA) in the wake of a U.S. Supreme Court ruling.
BOSTON — Partly granting certification of a mandatory class in an Employee Retirement Income Security Act suit challenging the selection and retention of proprietary funds, a Massachusetts federal judge adopted a report and recommendation concluding that the named plaintiff is typical of the class on all challenged points except as to forward-looking injunctive relief, despite being a financial analyst who no longer participates in the retirement fund and signed a release when he left the company.
DENVER — An Employee Retirement Income Security Act health plan administrator did not need to credit treating physicians’ opinions, but it also couldn’t simply “shut its eyes” and fail to engage with readily available medical evidence, the 10th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals said in finding the insurer’s coverage denials arbitrary and capricious and affirming and award of benefits.